
885 



s 

615 

■By 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN NO. 167. 

A. C. TRUE, Director. 



IRRIGATION 



IN THE 



NORTH ATLANTIC STATES. 



BY 



AUG. J. BOWIE, Jr., 

Agknt axi) Kxpkrt. 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT TRINTING OFFICE. 
1906. 



Glass 




Book 'B7 



885 



^ ¥ y 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF .AGRICULTURE. 
I 

OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS— BULLETIN NO. 167. 

A. C. TRUE, Director. 



^2^6 



IRRIGATION 



NORTH ATLANTIC STATES. 



BY 



AUG/.J.' BOWIE, .Jr., 

Agent and P]xpert. 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1906. 



tlonr>frr,(,^ 






THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 

wSTAFF. 
A. C. True, Ph. D.— Director. 

E. W. Allen, Ph. D. — Assistant Director and Editor of Experiment Station Record. 
W. H. Beal, B. a., M. E.~Chief of Editorial Division. 

W. H. Evans, Ph. D. — Chief of Division of Insular Stations. 
John Hamilton, B. S., M. S. A. — Farmers' Institute Specialist. 
Mrs. C. E. Johnston. — Chief Clerk. 

irrigation and drainage investigations. 

Elwood Mead, D. E. — Chief of Irrigation and Drainage Investigations. 

C. G. Elliott, C. E. — Engineer in Charge of Drainage Ini'estigations. 

S. M. Woodward, M. S., M. A. — Engineer in Charge of Irrigation Investigations. 

R. P. Teele, M. a. — Expert in Irrigation Institutions. 

C. J. Zintheo, B. S. — Expert in Farm Mechanics. 

Samuel Fortier, M. E. — Engineer in Charge of Pacific District. 

F. C. Herrmann, B. S. — Expert in Irrigation as Related to Dry Farming. 

(2) 



120 1906 
D.otO, 



.ETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

Office of Experiment Stations, 

Washington, D. C, April 16, 1906. 
Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on Irrigation in 
the North Atlantic States, by Aug. J. Bowie, jr., of the Irrigation and 
Drainage Investigations of this Office. This report shows that for 
market gardens and for meadows irrigation in humid sections has 
jM-oven profitable, but it has not yet been practiced in the raising of 
general farm crops. The cost of securing water supplies in the East 
far exceeds that in the arid regions, although water is much more 
plentiful. This suggests that it may be possible to so reduce the cost 
of water as to render irrigation profitable for many crops which will 
not repay the expense now incurred. The descriptions of irrigation 
practice contained in this report should be suggestive to many who are 
now raising truck without the aid of irrigation, and it is therefore rec- 
ommended that the report be published as a bulletin of this Office. 
Respectfully, 

A. C. True, 

Director. 
Hon. James Wilson, 

Secretary of Agriculture. 

(3) 



CONTENTS. 

Field for irrigation in humid climates 7 

Topography 8 

Rainfall 8 

Water supply - 9 

Meadow irrigation _ , . - . - 10 

Lancaster County 12 

Berks County _ — 12 

Lehigh County - - - 13 

Northampton County 14 

Irrigation of truck farms 15 

Detailed descriptions of irrigation plants 15 

Maryland . _ 15 

Pennsylvania ... 16 

New Jersey - 22 

New York _ 33 

Massachusetts _ _ 37 

Rhode Island 42 

Methods of irrigation _ 44 

The cost of irrigation 46 

Returns from irrigation 49 

Conclusion _ 50 

(5J 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Fig. 1 . Sliding gate in flume 25 

2. Carrier for pipe and sprinklers 26 

3. Adjustable nozzle - 39 

4. Adjustable hydrant with hose and nozzle 40 

5. Simple nozzle 46 

6. Nozzle - 47 

7. Multiple sprinkler 48 

(6) 



IRRIGATION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC STATES." 



The data for this report were collected during July and August, 
1905, and include a study of irrigation as practiced in Maryland, 
Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and 
Massachusetts. The territory investigated lies in the humid district 
of the United States, where the annual rainfall is between 40 and 50 
inches. Irrigation is not always necessary for the growth of crops and 
has been confined to truck farms and meadow land. 

FIELD FOR IRRIGATION IN HUMID CLIMATES. 

Accordmg to the popular conception, the field for irrigation is the 
arid or semiarid region in the West, and does not extend to the 
humid East, where the supply of moisture is considered sufficient for 
the growth of crops. The distribution of rainfall, however, is so uncer- 
tain that crops throughout the East often suffer from droughts. 
Without irrigation certain crops, such as strawberries, celery, and 
cauliflower, may be entirely lost. It is not uncommon to see farmers 
making frantic efforts to save their crops from destruction by hauling 
water and sprinkling from barrels and watering pots. The water 
applied in tliis manner is too small in quantity to be of any service and 
is very costly. Economical and successful methods of irrigation 
adapted to humid conditions are, however, quite extensively used and 
are described in this report. 

The advantages to be gained from irrigation are limited to certain 
crops. Such field crops as timothy, clover, wheat, rye, oats, and corn 
are not particularly affected by droughts of short duration. The 
value of such crops in eastern Pennsylvania will usually lie between 
$15 and $30 per acre, and irrigation in such instances would hardly pay 
under present conditions. The case of truck crops is entirely different. 
The value of a single crop will often be $200 to $1,500 per acre, and 
usually two to three crops are grown on the same land in a year. 
Crops of this nature are much more sensitive to drought than field 
crops. Particularly is this true in the case of berries during the 
time when the fruit is maturing. Failure to provide sufficient mois- 
ture during this period may result in very great damage to the crop. 

a Previous studies of irrigation in the East have been reported in U. S. Dept. Agr., Office 
of Experiment Stations Buls. 36, 87, 119, 133, 148, and Farmers' Bui. 46. 

(7) 
29606— No. 167—06 2 



The irrigation of truck not only greatly increases the yield, but it 
matures the crops earlier, when they will bring higher prices, and may 
allow the growth of one more crop during the year. It is particularly 
during the years of greatest drought that the truck farmer who irri- 
gates reaps his harvest, when prices are highest and his neighbors' 
crops poorest in quantity and quality. The distribution of rain is by 
no means uniform, even in adjoining counties, and certain localities, 
owing to the topography of the land, fail to receive many of the 
showers which fall on the surrounding country. 

It is commonly said that truck irrigation will pay only when the 
market is close at hand, but much of the data presented show good 
returns from the irrigation of truck land rather unfavorably situated. 
In addition to truck gardens there are in many localities low meadow 
lands which may be cheaply irrigated, and these two types of irriga- 
tion practice constitute the present field for irrigation in the humid 
East. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The land of the humid belt in the eastern and northeastern part of 
the United States is generally of a rolling liilly nature, totally unlike 
the broad level plains and valleys of the West. The difficulties of pre- 
paring for irrigation large sections of land are correspondingly greater. 
Comparatively few large farms, however, are found through the East, 
the land being cut up into smaller holdings. Of the territory investi- 
gated, eastern Maryland, Delaware, southern and eastern New Jersey, 
and Long Island are fairly level, while in eastern Pennsylvania and 
northwestern New Jersey the land is nearly all hilly. 

RAINFALL. 



The following table is taken from the Weather Bureau reports to 
show for the section investigated the large variations in the annual 
and seasonal rainfall for the last ten years. The ''normal" rainfall 
is simply the average since records have been kept. 

Annual and seasonal rainfall in eastern cities from 1895 to 1904. 





Boston. 


New York. 


Harrisburg. 


Philadelphia. 


Year. 




April to 




April to 




April to 




April to 




Annual. 


Septem- 
ber. 


Annual. 


Septem- 
ber. 


Annual. 


Septem- 
ber. 


Annual. 


Septem- 
ber. 




Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


1895 


40 


16- 


36 


17 


26 


13 


31 


15 


1896 


38 


18 


38 


20 


35 


18 


32 


14 


1897 


41 


22 


44 


26 


34 


18 


42 


24 


1898 


50 


25 


45 


19 


45 


26 


49 


24 


1899 .. . 


30 


15 


42 


20 


34 


20 


40 


18 


1900 


44 


19 


42 


19 


29 


15 


41 


22 


1901 


49 


26 


47 


29 


30 


17 


46 


28 


1902 


34 


13 


47 


21 


40 


18 


50 


22 


1903 




21 




22 




19 




21 


1904 


40 


42 


32 


40 












Normal 


45 


22 


45 


22 


44 


24 


40 


21 



It is seen that in dry seasons there is about half as much rain as in 
wet, and that about one year in three has less than 75 per cent of the 
normal rainfall. The following table shows the monthly rainfall dur- 
ing the crop-growing months for the; same period and is inserted to 
show that even in seasons of normal or excessive rainfall, as in 1901 or 
1903, there may be a dry month which will greatly retard growth. 

Monthly raiyifall in Philadelphia from 1895 to 190J^. 



Year. 


April. 


May. 


June. 


July. 


Au- Sep- 
gust. tember. 


Total. 


1895 


Inches. 
6.1 
1.2 
3.0 
2.9 
1.0 
1.9 
4.8 
3.3 
3.0 


Inches. 
1.7 
2.3 
4.3 
4.8 
2.3 
4.1 
4.1 
2.0 
.9 


Inches. 
3.2 
4.1 
4.5 
1.8 
1.1 
2.8 
1.2 
6.1 
5. 5 
2.9 
1.8 


Inches. 
3.2 
3.3 
7.7 
3.6 
4.7 
2.8 
4.9 
3.5 
3.8 
3.8 


Inches. 
0.6 
.5 
3.5 
9.1 
5.2 
4.0 
9.4 
2.3 
5.6 
4.4 


Inches. 
0.6 
2.8 
1.1 
1.8 
3.7 
6.3 
3.7 
5.0 
2.3 
7.2 


Inches. 
15.4 


1896 


14 2 


1897 ^ 


24 1 


1898 


24 


1899 


18 


1900... 


21 9 


1901 


28 1 


1902 


22 2 


1903 


21 1 


1904 




1905 


3.6. 
















Normal 


3.0 


3.2 


3.1 


4.2 


4.3 


3.3 


21 1 







WATER SUPPLY. 

Most of the irrigated meadow land in Pennsylvania lies near the 
beds of small creeks fed by springs. The flow of the springs varies 
considerably during the year, many of them drying up, so that part 
of the year the water supply is insufficient for irrigation, or ceases alto- 
gether. Small dams constructed of timber back filled with earth are 
built to raise the water sufficiently high to cover the land, but not for 
storage. They are usually small affairs, cheaply constructed, costing 
from $5 to $20. Wlien washed out they are often not replaced for a 
year or two, the land meanwhile going unirrigated. 

The use of wells as a source of irrigation is quite limited, and 
throughout the East the absence of windmills is particularly notice- 
able. The cost of well boring is considerably higher than in the 
South and West. 

Many farmers near the large cities use city water for irrigation, 
since, if the farm is small and the use of water is limited, it is thought 
to be cheaper than pumping. The usual cost of such water is $1 to 
$1.50 per 1,000 cubic feet, or $44 to $65 per acre-foot — a price which 
would certainly seem prohibitive to western irrigators, some of whom 
pay less than 1 per cent of these costs, and even wdiere pumping is 
practiced, as in Santa Clara Valley, California, the average cost of 
raising water 65 feet is only $4.40 per acre-foot, or 10 per cent of the 
above price. The success of irrigation under the conditions found in 
the East is due not to cheap water supply, but to the high value of 
crops grown and the careful distribution of the small quantity of 
water used. 



10 



MEADOW IRRIGATION. 

The table given below gives the location and area of 125 irrigated 
meadows in four counties of Pennsylvania, with such data as could be 
obtained regarding their yield and the yield of similar land without 
irrigation : 

lr/i(jated meadows in Pennsylvania. 





County. 


Area. 


Yield per acre. 


Name. 


Irri- 
gated. 


Nonirri- 
gated. 


B. Caskey 


Lancaster 


Acres. 
7 
5 
2 
9 
1 


Tons. 
2 
2 


Tons. 
1 


Elias Brockbill 




J. Keener 


do .-. .. . 




J. Bachinan 


do 


2.4 




David Myers 


do 




J. Melliiigor 


do 






Newt. Ilerr 


do 


7 
4 
3 
5 
4 
5 
3 
2 
8 
3 
3 
2 

10 

2 

5 

35 

16 

65 

30 

3 

3 

2 

3 

1 

4 
4 
3 

2 
1 
6 


2 
2 

.8 


1 


John Beiler 


do 


1.5 


Sam Martin 


do. 


.6 


Jacob Zimmerman 


do 




Joe Weaver 


do 






David Martin 


do 






David Rut 


do. 






A. H. Weaver 


do 






C. H. Zimmerman 


do 


2.8 


1.4 


Frank Weaver 


. .do 




Joe Weaver 


do 






I. G. Martin 


do 


2.2 
2.9 
3.2 


1.1 


Amos Hostetter 


.do 




J. W. Morrison 


do 


1.6 


Jacob Thomas 


do 




H. Yoder 




2.9 

1.5 

3 

1.5 

2.4 

1.5 

2.3 

2.7 


.6 


J. H. Ruth 


do 


1.5 


State Insane Asylum 


do 




Reading Poorhouse 


do 


.7 


F. J. Trexler 


do 


1.2 


C. B. Adams 


do. 


1 


John Sell ... 


do 




Peter Swo ver 


do 




Abe Schlegel, jr 


.. ..do. 




Do 


do 


:::::::;::::;::;:: 


Aaron Ilouck 


do 


2.3 


1.1 


Eph. Leh 


. do 




William Edmger 


do 








do 


2.5 


1.5 


Oscar Houseman 


. do 




J. D. Kuser 


do 


Double. 
1.6 
2 

2.9 
2.2 
2 

1.5 
1.5 
2.3 




Emma liassler 


do 




W. Keim 


.do 


5 
8 


.5 


Sarah Butz 


do 


.9 




do 


1.5 


William Wolfgang ' 


. .do. 


9 
4 
3 
3 
3 
2 
3 
2 

10 
3 
8 
5 
3 
4 
5 
5 
5 

20 
8 
8 




J. K. Mest 


do 


.7 


Jacob Mover 


do 


.8 


Alvin Weller 


do... 




Aaron Weller 


do 






do 


3.1 
5 


1.3 


David Yoder 


do 


2.4 


Joe Mover 


do 




Sam Wise 


uo. 


1.5 

2.3 

1.5 

2.4 

2.5 

2 

2.1 

2.6 

2.5 


.8 


Ephraim Weller 


do 


1.1 


R. S. Gilbert 


do 


1.1 




. ..do 




E. B. Yingtmg 


do 


1.2 




do 




H. Wolfgang 


do 


1 


G. W. Amey 


do 




Jacob Knecht 


do 






do 

do 

do 

do 




Jacob Kulp 

Henry .\pple 

M. T.'Hess 


1.5 
1.9 




.9 




do 

do 

do 


8 
5 
5 
2 
13 


2.3 

3 

1.8 

2.5 

2.9 










.9 


Noah Geissingcr 

Newt. Moyer , 


do 

do .,,.. 


1.2 
1.4 



11 



Irrigated meadows in Pennsyh'ania — Continued. 



Name. 



County. 



Yield per acre. 



Irri- Nonirri- 
gated. gated. 



John Moyer 

John Efnst 

P. II. Carl 

C. H. Kline 

F. Gehman 

John Rothenbergei 

D. M. Shantz 

J. Rhoad 

J. C. Ackerman 

H. B. Schelly 

Schuler Brothers 

L. Ritter 

H. D. Gross 

Jacob Young 

J. M. Weiss 

James P. Abel 

Sol S. Stevens 

F. O. Border 

T. L. Laubach 

W. V. Schweitzer 

Tom Kunsman 

A. H. Skinner 

T. F. Kunsman 

II. Illick 

J. J. Detweiler 

J. Davis 

T. Mitman 

AVilliam Rueh 

B. F. Fulmer 

A. Cressnian 

John Rodenbach 

Preston Roth 

J. P. Kline 

David Unangst 

Howard Yelles 

Frank Rigg 

William Cauley 

A. T. Kunsman 

A. T. Burkstrasser 

Thco. Floubach 

John Boyer 

William Herrmann 

Mrs. Lurch 

William M. Applegate .. 

Dr. O. B. Schaeffer 

J. Fancboner 

W ill Fancboner 

Ben Buzzard 

A. W. Sandt 

Julius Karabinus 

Alfred Remaley 

Charles Holland 

J. F. Engler 

J. Rush 

Franklin Hester 

R. D. Good 

— Strobe 

O. H. Emery 

Hiram and Q. A. Yetter . 



Berks . 

do. 

Lehigh. 
do. 



Acres. 



Tons. 



....do 

do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Northampton. 
do 



.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do.-, 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 
.do... 



1.5 

1.8 

2.7 

2.8 

3 

3 

3 

2 

2.1 

1.6 

2.2 

1.8 

1 



2 
1 
3 
2.3 



2 

2.2 

4" 

3 

4 

3 



Tons. 



1.1 
1.4 



The entire area included in the table is over 800 acres, showing that 
meadow irrigation is a well-established practice in this region. In the 
41 cases where an estimate of the 3'ield from similar land not irrigated 
is given, 270 acres are reported as producing 570 tons of hay when irri- 
gated and 270 tons when not irrigated, showing that irrigation is 
thought fully to double the yield. 

More detailed data regarding a few tj^pical meadoAvs are added 
below to give a general idea of the methods employed. 



12 

LANCASTER COUNTY. 

B. Caskey irrigates 7 acres, which yield 2 tons of hay to the acre in 
two cuttings. Water is run continuously over the same piece for 
about three weeks. 

David Martin and four others irrigate 19 acres from Blue Ball Run. 
The water is diverted into a partnership ditch 3 feet wide and 2 feet 
deep, nearly a mile in length, which was built seventy years ago. 
Water is usually applied twice before each cutting and once immedi- 
ately afterwards and runs continuously^ for three or four days for each 
irrigation. It is distributed over the land by means of small cuts in 
the side of the ditch, 12 to 15 feet apart. Where the ditch runs on a 
steep grade, boards or stakes are inserted to check the water. Repairs 
are said to cost .155 a year. Three acres yielded 10 tons of hay or three 
times the yield of unirrigated land. 

A. H. Weaver irrigates 2 acres from a spring. Water is run continu- 
ously for five days on the same piece of land, being applied in eight 
irrigations a month apart. After each irrigation the land is allowed to 
dry for two days, when stock is turned in to graze for the next three 
weeks. Irrigated land will pasture 3 head of stock per acre, whereas 
nonirrigated land will support only 1 head. The owner estimates the 
value of irrigated pasture per head per month at $2, and of nonirriga- 
ted pasture where the quality of grass is not so good at $1 .50. Hence, 
allowing for the week during which irrigated land is not available for 
pasturage, the annual value of irrigated meadow land in the seven 
months from the middle of April to the middle of November is $31.50 
per acre, while the annual value of nonirrigated meadow land per acre 
is $10.50. The annual cost of applying water to the land is but $4; 
hence the net annual return is approximately $17 per acre for irrigated 
land. 

Amos Hostetter irrigates 10 acres, which is cut twice and pastured. 
The yield per acre is about 3 tons. Irrigation is begun about the 1st 
of June, and the first crop cut about ten days later. Water is run con- 
tinuously from one to two days on the same piece of land and is usually 
applied every week. The crop of hay on nonirrigated land is hardly 
worth cutting. It takes one man two and a half days to clean the 
ditch each year. 

J. W. Morrison irrigates IJ acres, which yield 5 tons a year in two 
cuttings. Irrigation fully doubles the yield. Water is applied every 
ten days and runs continuously on the same piece of land for five days. 
The cost of the irrigation per year is about $5. 

BERKS COUNTY. 

At the Reading poorhouse there are irrigated 30 acres, yielding 1| 
tons to the acre in one cutting in June, after which the land is pastured. 
Water is run continuously from the middle of March to the middle of 



13 

June, and about the end of June the first crop is cut. If the weather 
remains dry the land is irrigated for pasture. Irrigation doubles the 

yield. 

At the State Insane Asylum there are irrigated 65 acres of grass with 
sewage water, which is pumped into a reservoir on a hill and distrib- 
uted through pipes and 2^inch canvas hose, from which the water 
discharges freely over the land. The yield of hay is 2i tons per acre. 
This irrigation plant is described at length on page 16. 

Mrs. Sarah Butz formerly irrigated 8 acres yielding about 3 tons per 
acre in two cuttings. An embankment for a troUey-hne has recently 
been erected through the farm, and as no provision has been made for 
conveying the water through the embankment the farm was not irri- 
gated the past year, with the result that the yield was reduced to less 
than a ton per acre. 

G. W. Amey irrigates from a spring 5 acres, which yield two and 
sometimes three crops, or a total of 13 tons per year. The owner 
believes that irrigation doubles the crop. The same piece is irrigated 
continuously for a month. 

In the vicinity of Richland town are a few farms where meadow land 
is irrigated by surface drainage from the roads. No reliable figures, 
however, could be obtained of the value of such irrigation. 

Jacob Knecht irrigates 5 acres, which yield U tons per acre. The 
crop from nonirrigated land is hardly worth cutting. The land in the 
past has been irrigated once a week, the water rumiing continuously 
for three days on the same piece. The owner thinks the water should 
be changed every day and that the farm has suffered from overirriga- 
tion. A considerable growth of sour grass, which is mainly due to 
overirrigation, may be seen in many other places throughout the 

country. 

LEHIGH COUNTY. 

C. H. Khne irrigates 4 acres, yielding nearly 2 tons per acre in two 
cuttings. Nonirrigated land has only half this yield. Water is 
applied continuously for five days, every three weeks, the first crop 
receiving six irrigations and the second crop four. 

J. C. Ackerman irrigates 8 acres, yielding 2 tons per acre for the first 
crop and 1 ton per acre for the second crop, after which the land is 
pastured. The land is irrigated once a week, the water running con- 
tinuously for a day on the same piece. The first crop receives twelve 
irrigations, starting in April, and the second crop eight. The time 
required to change the water is not over a quarter of an hour a day. 
Twenty-five head of cattle are wintered on the hay from 8 acres. 



14 

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY. 

W. V. Schweitzer irrigates 15 acres, which have been irrigated 45 
years. The first crop is cut early in June and yields 1 J tons per acre; 
the second crop yields 1 ton, the third crop f of a ton. After the 
third crop is cut the land is irrigated when necessary and then pas- 
tured. The water supply is obtained from the stream which supplies 
the mill and is used when the mill is not in operation. One tract of 
meadow land was fertilized by the addition of 300 pounds of fertilizer 
and ashes to the acre, increasing the yield materially. On the average 
irrigation increases the yield of the land threefold. Every third year 
the meadow is cut only twice in order to allow the grass to reseed itself, 
the first cutting being made about June 24. In the early spring when 
water is plentiful the land is thoroughly fertilized by opening a large 
drainpipe in the headrace and washing over the land the mud and 
sediment gathered there. 

A. H. Skinner has two 4-acre pastures; while one is being irrigated 
the other serves as pasture. One irrigation lasts for six weeks, and 
one irrigated pasture will support 8 head of cattle, whereas nonirri- 
gated land will support only half as many. 

The data given are enough to show that the crude methods used for 
meadow irrigation are successful, and on the small scale at present 
practiced are cheap to install and operate. They suggest but do not 
demonstrate what could be done with a well-built system on a large 
tract. Many of the meadows have suffered from overirrigation, 
shown by a growth of sour grass in spots. This usually indicates 
uneven watering rather than an excess of water on the whole tract, 
and in many cases could be remedied by running small furrows down 
through the field, 4 or 5 feet apart, with a single shovel or a special 
cultivator attachment cutting through the turf. They should have 
grade enough to carry the water easily and may often be run from the 
head ditch in the direction of the greatest slope. This method is very 
common in Utah and Nevada for all field crops, where the inconven- 
ience in mowing across the furrows and the loss of grass or alfalfa in 
the furrows is found to be very small. 



15 



IRRIGATION OF TRUCK FARMS. 

The following list of truck farms, most of wliicli are described later 
in detail, shows the location and area of each farm. These farms are 
referred to in the subsequent discussion by their numbers, as given in 
the list below: 

Irrigated truck farms. 



No. 


Name. 


state. 


County. 


Area. 


1 
2 
3 


Louis Chassagne 

N. H. Mack ; 

State Insane Asvlum 

P. B. DUks....." 

M. V. Dilks 

Alfred Paul 

U.J. Wieand 

John F. Weaver 

Ed C. Schaefer 

Julius Karabinus 

J. F. Engler 

Ham- Broadhead 

R. F. Schwarz 


Maryland 

Pennsylvania 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do... 


Baltimore 

Lancaster 

Berks . . . 


Acres. 

6 

4 

105 


4 
5 
C 
7 
8 
9 
10 


Philadelphia 

do 

Montgomery 

Lehigh " 

Northampton. . .. 

do 

do. . 


3 

1 

1 

4 

3.5 

4 

1 


11 


do 


1 


12 


Monroe 


0.3 


13 


do 

Luzerne 

Northumberland . 
do 

do 


5 
9 


14 


M. Garrahan 


.do. 


15 


Mrs. R. C. Shannon 


do 


16 


W. J. Suter.. . 


do 


2 
1 5 


17 


C. McWiIIiam.s 


do 


18 


F. W. Kilbourne 


New Jersev 

-•... .do. ...".. 


Middlesex 


2 


19 


W. P. Stokes 




?0 


Ilenrv A. Dreer 


do 


. ..do 


5 


?1 


T. R.Hunt 


do 


Hunterdon 

Cumberland 

do 


6 
1 6 


■?'?. 


David Astle 


. do 


?3 


Cuno Becker 


do 




2A 


State Asvlum for Feeble-Minded Children 


do 


do 


16 


?5 


William Ash 


do 


.do 


3 


?fi 


George Mitchell 


do 


do 


10 


27 

?8 


J. H. Shute 

L. M. Parkhurst '. 


do 

do 


Gloucester 


1 
3 


?9 


Hermann Graumann 


do 


do 


10 


30 


John I. Sickles.. . . 


do 


Monmouth 




31 


Julius Roehrs 


..do 




3? 


William Young 


do 




12 


33 


F. J. Forthuber 




.do 


15 


34 


Henrv Schumacher 


. .do 




10 


35 


John Wilhelm 


do.. 


Hudson 




3f> 


Arthur Robinson 


do 


.. .do. .. 


2 


37 


W. Gurnheit 

F. Schumacher 

Phillip Bach 

Witte Bros 

B. H. Mohlenhoff 

August Plenge 

John Schumacher 

Bender Bros 

Frank Coolidge 

W. W. Rawson 

Weyman Bros 

James Purcell 

W. H. Allen 

Hittinger Fruit Co 

C. H. Slade 

A. H. Long 

H . W . Locke 

Lovell Bros 

Pierce Bros 

J. W.Russell 

D. N. Potter 

C. W. Patt 


do 


do 


15 


38 


New York 

do 


Queens 


15 


39 


do 


7 


40 


do 


do 


18 


41 


do 

do 

do 

do 

Massachusetts 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

Rhode Island.. . . 
do 


.do 


3 


42 


do 


4 


43 


do 


4 


44 


.do 


17 


45 
46 


Middlesex 

. ..do.. . 


100 
40 


47 


do 


40 


48 


do 


10 


49 


do 


95 


50 


Suffolk 




51 


do 


10 


5? 


do 


1 


53 
54 


Middlesex 

do 


10 
2 


55 


do . 


6 


56 

57 
58 


do 

Providence 

do 


26 
22 
32 









DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF IRRIGATION PLANTS. 

MARYLAND. 

No. 1. Louis Chassagne, of Baltimore County, irrigates 6 acres of 
garden truck with water from the city main, costing 6 cents per thou- 
sand gallons, or $19.50 per acre-foot. In 1904, 4 acres were irrigated, 
29606— No. 167—06 3 



16 

and in 1905, owing to the wetness of the season, only one-half acre. 
The soil is a sandy loam 12 inches thick, with a sandy subsoil. The 
furrow system and sprinkling are both used. In very dry weather the 
land is irrigated every two weeks and is sprinkled twice a week, 
receiving at most not over three irrigations per crop. The furrows 
are 18 to 24 inches apart and 200 feet long. The water supply is 
sufficient to water 1 acre to a depth of 5^ inches in forty-eight hours. 
This is the maximum quantity of water applied at one irrigation, and 
frequently half this quantity is sufficient. The depth applied by 
sprinkling is very small compared with this. The ground is piped 
with l^-inch second-hand piping, which cost $200. 
' The crops irrigated are celery, lettuce, and cauliflower, the celery 
being only sprinkled. The cost of labor is $4.50 per week and board. 
The owner estimates that in some years irrigation increases the returns 
fully $1,000, and that as a rule it doubles the yield. The value of the 
crops irrigated, per acre, are: Celery, $350 to $500; lettuce, $150; 
cauHflower, $200; celeriac, $300 to $500. During a drought irrigated 
cauliflower is cut two weeks earlier than unirrigated, and it brings 
twice as high a price. In 1904 celeriac not irrigated was hardly 
marketable. Irrigated beets were ten days ahead of those not irri- 
gated. In the drought of 1901 the crop from 1 acre of irrigated 
lettuce sold for $400, at 75 cents to $1.25 per bushel. Unirrigated 
lettuce was a total failure. The cost of water was $40 in 1904 and 
$6 in 1905. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

No. 2. At the Welsh Industrial Mission 4 acres in strawberries are 
irrigated from a spring by the furrow system. The land usually 
receives two irrigations a week apart. The water requires three to 
four hours to run through the furrows, wliich are 260 to 300 feet long 
and 3i feet apart, the plants being set 18 inches apart. The yield of 
irrigated berries is 4,800 boxes per acre, the average price being from 
5 to 10 cents per box. During a dry season a few years ago berries 
brought 7 to 15 cents a box, $336 to $720 an acre, at a time when the 
entire crop in the valley below was a failure. The superintendent, 
Mr. Mack, does not attribute the results wholly to irrigation, but 
estimates that it produces an increase of 25 bushels, or 800 boxes, per 
acre, since the soil and climate at the mission are more favorable 
than in the valley. In 1904 but 2 acres were irrigated. 

No. 3. The State Insane Asylum at Wernersville irrigates 105 acres 
with sewage, the disposal of which is the primary object of the plant. 
Sixty-five acres are in grass, yielding 2h tons per acre, and 40 acres in 
potatoes, yielding 150 bushels per acre. The sewage is distributed 
from a reservoir through 2i-inch and 3-inch pipe, to which a 2j-inch 
hose is attached every hundred feet for distributing the water. 



17 

Furrow irrigation is used for potatoes, and flooding down the slope 
for grass. 

No. 4. P. B. Dilks has a 3-acre irrigated farm near Philadelpliia, 
the water being suppHed by a pumping plant. A triplex double- 
acting pump delivering 50 gallons per minute is driven by a 4-horse- 
power gasoline engine. Water is lifted 14 feet and forced through 
600 feet of 2-inch pipe. The plant is usually operated twelve hours 
per day, in which time 1 acre is irrigated to a depth of 1.3 inches. 
Sometimes only half this depth is used. The engine is not loaded to 
its capacity and consumes but 2 gallons of gasoline in twelve hours. 
The engine and pump cost $500, pipe and hose $300, making the total 
cost of the plant $800. Two-inch piping costs 20 cents per foot. 

The crops irrigated are celer}^, cabbage, and lettuce, and in very 
dry seasons beets and radishes. The entire flow of the pump is 
turned into one furrow, and takes ten to thirty minutes to run through. 
The furrows vary in length from 200 to 350 feet and are 2.5 feet apart. 
Occasionally the ground is sprinkled to kill lice on the celery or 
lettuce. Celery is irrigated once a week in dry weather, requiring 
three to four irrigations in a season. In dry weather irrigated celery 
and cabbage gave excellent yields, while unirrigated crops were a 
failure. Irrigated lettuce was 75 per cent better than unirrigated. 
One acre of celery will bring on an average $300, and 1 acre of cabbage 
$400, the price usuall}^ received for cabbage being $1 per barrel. 
Cabbage is irrigated in dry weather only when heading. The owner 
estimates that this single irrigation fully doubles the yield, and that 
the value of the celery crop is also doubled b}' irrigation. 

No. 5. M. V. Dilks, on an adjoining farm, irrigates an acre of 
truck with water from the city waterworks. The flow is about 18 
gallons per minute and the cost of the water $30 per year. 

No. 6. Alfred Paul, of Montgomery County, irrigates one-half acre 
of strawberries with water from a spring, applied by the furrow 
system. The net returns from the crop were $250. Irrigation is 
said to double the value of the crop, and in 1905 it would have been 
a failure without water. Water is applied during the night, the 
irrigation season lasting only about two weeks. The total cost of 
developing the water supply was $50. 

No. 7. U. J. Wieand, of Lehigh Count}^, has a pumping plant for 4 
"acres of strawberries and potatoes. The plant consists of a 5-horse- 
power motor taking its power from a trolley line, and a No. 2 cen- 
trifugal pump delivering 165 gallons per minute against a 24-foot 
Hft. It takes twenty-four hours to irrigate the 4 acres by the furrow 
system, making a depth of 2.2 inches. Mr. Wieand intends to install 
a 15-horsepower motor for the irrigation of 100 acres to be planted in 
rye, hay, and potatoes. He estimates that the irrigation season for 
potatoes would last six weeks. 



18 

No. 8. John F. Weaver, of Northampton County, irrigates 3.5 acres 
with water raised by a No. 6 ram. During extreme dry weather the 
supply is sufficient for 1.5 acres, and occasionally for 2 acres addi- 
tional. Water is supplied to the ram under a 20-foot head and is 
elevated 185 feet to a tank of boiler iron 4| by 8 by 7 feet. The ram 
is fed through 160 feet of 2i-inch pipe and discharges through 2,000 
feet of U-inch pipe into the tank. The standpipe is 550 feet from 
the ram, wliich fills the tank in six hours, corresponding to a flow of 
2 gallons per minute. The 1^-inch pipe is buried in wooden cliips and 
sawdust to prevent freezing. The water is distributed by hand 
sprinkling and by a four-arm revolving sprinkler, which is moved every 
half hour or hour. The tank full and the supply of the ram will 
irrigate one-quarter acre in twelve hours by the latter method. 
Tomatoes, cabbage, and beans are irrigated occasionally; celery, 
lettuce, and radishes are irrigated about every seven days in dry 
weather. Lettuce and Lima beans receive 4 irrigations, radishes 3, 
cabbage 1, and celery 12 in a dry season. It takes six weeks to raise 
lettuce and five weeks to raise radishes when the ground is irrigated 
just before planting. 

Irrigation doubles the tomato and cabbage yields in average sea- 
sons, and in 1905 without irrigation there would have been no crop 
of lettuce, Lima beans, or celery. One-third acre of lettuce yielded 
in two crops 12,000 heads, which sold for from 2 to 8 cents apiece, 
the average price being 4 cents. An acre of radishes brought $750 
in three crops in 1905, the price being 5 cents per bunch retail and 3 
cents wholesale in a dry j^ear. The wholesale price in average years 
is IJ cents per bunch. Early cabbage is planted 16 inches apart in 
2i-foot rows. In 1904, 5,000 plants yielded 200 barrels. In 1905, 
owing to insufficient water supply, the yield was only 150 barrels. 
Tomatoes yielded 1,200 baskets per acre, the price in average years 
being 20 cents per basket. In 1905 the price was $1.25 per basket. 
Beans are irrigated from April through September. In 1905 the 
celery raised by irrigation was the finest ever grown on the place in 
size and weight. A bunch of twelve plants weighed 16 pounds, 
which at the price obtained, $5 per 100 pounds, made the yield per 
acre worth $1,000. The owner beheves that besides hastening it 
irrigation doubles the crop. 

The total cost of the plant, including ram, pipe, and 1,500 feet of 
additional 1^-inch pipe used for the distribution of the water and the 
f-inch and 1-inch hose used, was $850. The cost of labor is 75 cents 
per day and board, and the irrigation of an acre requires six days. 

No. 9. Ed C. Schafer, Northampton County, irrigates 4 acres with 
water pumped by a No. 8 hydrauhc ram fed through 75 feet of 3J-inch 
pipe. The water supply for the ram is under 11-foot head and the 
discharge is elevated 80 feet through 575 feet of U-inch pipe into a 



19 

cistern 8 by 8 by 8 feet, wliich is filled in eight and one-half hours, 
corresppnding to a flow of 7^ gallons per minute. Water is distributed 
by 1,000 feet of IJ-inch and 1-inch pipe with T's for outlets even- 40 
feet. The land is watered by sprinkling, partly by hand, but prin- 
cipally by the use of a small water witch fed by 1-inch hose. This 
will cover a circle 30 feet in diameter and in seventeen hours will 
irrigate one-half acre, being moved every hour. It delivers 3^ gallons 
per minute. One hundred feet of 1-inch hose is used, half of which is 
replaced each year. The cost of the plant was $180, of which the 
ram cost $40, the feed pipe $15, and 1,000 feet of 1-inch and l^-inch 
piping $125. 

Lettuce planted in June is sold in August, bringing in 1905 6 cents 
a head. Unirrigated lettuce did not mature. Radishes planted in 
April were harvested June 1 . In 1905 they sold for 5 cents per bunch; 
in 1904, for one-half or one-third as much. Radishes, lettuce, and 
beets were irrigated every two days. Onions and cabbages were not 
irrigated. 

No. 10. Julius Karabinus, of Northampton County, irrigates 7 acres 
of meadow land and 1 acre of truck from a creek across which a con- 
crete dam has been constructed at a cost of $340. The dam is 84 feet 
long, with an average height of 4 feet. It is 4 feet wide at the base and 
1 foot on top, with a rock foundation. It is provided with flashboards 
for raising the water level when desired, and has a wooden apron in 
front to take the impact of the water. Water is diverted through a 
ditch 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep, which carries about 4 cubic feet per 
second, a sufficient quantity to irrigate 400 acres in the arid region. 
No fixed system of irrigation was used, the water being distributed by 
wild flooding, some parts of the land being greatly overirrigated. 

From one-half acre of truck 3,000 head of cabbage brought $90, and 
'20 bushels of cucumbers brought $20. Truck land was irrigated every 
other day; meadow land continuously. The owner believes that the 
profits of irrigation will soon pay the cost of the dam. 

No. 11. J. F. Engler, of Northampton County, irrigates an acre of 
meadow land which in 1901 was planted in potatoes, yielding 80 
bushels under irrigation. Unirrigated potato land yielded 90 to 100 
bushels per acre. The land was irrigated by the furrow system every 
two weeks, the water flowing continuously for two days at a time in 
furrows 450 feet long. The crop undoubtedly sufi'ered from overirri- 
gation, resulting in decreased yield. In 1905 the yield from irrigated 
grass land was 2h tons per acre, while unirrigated yielded IJ tons per 
acre. In 1904, 1 acre of irrigated wheat land yielded 36 bushels, while 
unirrigated land of the same nature yielded 28 bushels. 

No. 12. Harry Broadhead, of Monroe County, irrigates one-quarter 
acre of beets with water obtained from springs. The water runs into 
six 50-gallon barrels, which are used as reservoirs, whence it flows to 



20 

the farm through 500 feet of l-inch pipe, the vertical head being 30 
feet. The land is watered by means of a water witch fed through a 
|-inch hose. The water witch covers a circle 20 feet in diameter, and 
is moved every half-hour. Water is applied once a week in dry 
weather. The water stored in the barrels and the flow of the spring is 
sufhcient to operate one water witch for 3h hours. The owner thinks 
that irrigation has doubled the value of crops in average years. 

On a farm near East Stroudsburg, at the time of the writer's visit, 
the celery crop had been set out only a short time, and was burning up 
in spite of attempts to irrigate by hauling water a short distance in a 
barrel. The time required was one hour per barrel. Eight barrels of 
water, holding 32 gallons each, or 34 cubic feet in all, were applied in 
two irrigations to one-quarter acre. This would correspond to a depth 
of 0.02 inch per irrigation, which is not sufficient to be of any advan- 
tage whatever. Figuring the time of a man and team at 32 cents per 
hour, the water cost $10 per 1,000 gallons, or over $3,000 per acre foot. 
This case is cited to show the folly of this method of irrigation except 
in setting out plants. 

No. 13. R. F. Schwarz, of Monroe County, irrigates 5 acres of truck 
with water obtained from a spring on a sidehill near his farm. A tim- 
ber dam 25 feet long forms a reservoir for the spring, from which the 
water runs to the farm through a half mile of 2-inch pipe, under a head 
of 150 feet. Part of the tract is irrigated every day and part every 
other day. With a flow of 10 gallons per minute, 1§ acres can be irri- 
gated in twenty-four hours. The furrow system is used, a hose sup- 
plying water to the ends of the furrows. Sometimes the ground is 
sprinkled, a large round sprinkler with small holes being used. 

The crops irrigated are celery, cabbage, beets, lettuce, asparagus, 
raspberries, strawberries, radishes, and rhubarb. Cabbage is planted 
15 inches apart in rows 2 feet apart. It sold in 1905 for 5 cents per 
head wholesale, and 6 to 8 cents retail. Celery was planted 6 inches 
apart in 3-foot rows. It sold for 5 cents per stalk, three-fourths of the 
crop maturing. Lettuce was planted 6 by 9 inches. In 1905 it 
brought 5 to 7 cents per head, and four crops were grown. Without 
irrigation it would be impossible to raise lettuce. Three crops of rad- 
ishes were raised on the same land, spaced 7 inches apart. The cost of 
the entire system was $200. In dry years irrigation pays man)^ times 
the interest on the investment. 

No. 14. M. Garrahan, of Luzerne County, irrigates 9 acres in celery 
with water pumped from a slough, with a direct-acting steam pump 
driven by a 1 5-horsepower portable steam boiler. The fuel used is an- 
thracite coal, costing $4 per ton. The fuel consumption in ten hours, 
the usual length of run, is 800 pounds. Labor costs $1.50 per day. 
The pump operates against a vertical lift of 13 feet, and delivers water 
into a 2^-inch pipe 900 feet long, provided with outlets for distributing 



21 

the water over the farm. The pump is said to dehver 150 gallons per 
minute and will irrigate the entire farm in one hundred and twenty 
hours, giving a depth of about 4 inches. The soil is a yellow clay 8 
inches deep, with a tough clay subsoil. 

The methods of irrigation employed are flooding by hose and sprink- 
ling, the latter being used when it is necessarv^ to get over the ground 
rapidly and flooding when more time can be allowed and more thorough 
irrigation is desired. The irrigation season lasts from June 1 to 
October 31, the land requiring at most tlu-ee irrigations per year. 
In 1905 up to August 1 celery had received one spraying and one irri- 
gation. In dry weather celery is irrigated every two weeks. Twenty- 
eight thousand plants are raised per acre. It requires twenty-four 
hours" pumping to spray the 9 acres, two men being employed two days, 
giving a depth of 0.9 inch. 

The cost^ of the boiler and pump was $400. Two thousand six 
hundred feet of 2^-mch pipe used for the distribution of water cost 14 
cents per foot. Twelve valves cost S3 each, and 400 feet of linen 2-inch 
hose, rubber lined, cost $160, bringing the total cost of installation 
to $960. 

Irrigated celery sold at $1.50 per dozen bunches, each bunch con- 
taining 3 to 4 stalks. On unirrigated land in 1905 part of the celery 
did not mature, and bunches of 6 stalks each sold for $1.25 per dozen. 
The value of the crop from the 9-acre farm was $6,000. The ground 
was heavily manured in 1905, 60 tons of manure and 1 ton of fertilizer, 
costing $45, being used per acre. 

No. 15. Mrs. R. C. Shannon, of Northumberland County, irrigates 
2 J acres, Ih acres of which are planted in celery and the remainder in 
other truck. Water is pumped from a well dug 60 feet deep and bored 
20 feet farther, water standing about 18 feet from the ground. A hot- 
air engine pumps water into two tanks, each 7 feet in diameter and S 
feet deep, which the pump will fill in six hours. Celery is irrigated 
every five days in dry weather by the furrow system. 

No. 16. W. J. Suter, of Northumberland County, irrigates 2 acres 
of clay loam with water pumped by a small ram and a w^indmill. The 
ram lifts the water 40 feet tlu"ough 1 ,200 feet of 1-inch and 1 j-inch pipe, 
delivering a flow of about 1 gallon per minute. The windmill is 8 feet 
in diameter and will deliver about one-half this flow. It pumps from 
a w^ell 4 5 feet square dug 26 feet deep. The normal level of the water 
in the well is 3 feet below the ground. In dry seasons a rate of deliv- 
ery of 3,000 gallons per day will exhaust the well. The windmill 
pumps into a tank holding 1 ,500 gallons, set 20 feet above the ground. 
The water is distributed by piping and the ground irrigated by a 
sprinkler, a tankful being sufficient to water one-eighth to one-fourth 
of an acre. The land is irrigated in dry weather every two weeks, the 



22 

season lasting from May to August. Crops never receive more than 
four irrigations per year. 

Labor costs $1.20 per day and it requires one day to irrigate one- 
half of an acre, only one-fourth of the time of one man being consumed 
in moving the sprinkler. The yield per acre of celery brings on an 
average $1,600, and of lettuce, of which two crops are raised, $1,600 
for both crops. The value of irrigated land is over $400 per acre, and 
of nonirrigated land $10 to $100 per acre. The owner estimates that 
irrigation is worth to him at least $500 clear gain a year. The cost of 
the plant was $450, of which the well cost $100, the windmill $100, the 
pipe $100, ram and pipe $50, and labor $100. 

An earth tank built on a hillside for use in irrigation would not hold 
water, owing to the nature of the soil. 

No. 17. C. McWilliams, of Northumberland County, irrigates 1^ 
acres from a creek. Water is stored in an earth tank with a capacity 
of 180,000 gallons. Water is taken from the reservoir by a 2^-inch 
supply pipe 250 feet long, from which 1^-inch feeders branch out for 
the irrigation of the land. Hose is used to supply water to furrows. 
About 6 feet of head forces the water through the pipes and delivers a 
flow of 10 gallons per minute, which requires eighteen minutes to flow 
through a furrow 320 feet long. This rate of flow will irrigate one-half 
of an acre in twelve hours. The irrigation season lasts from May to 
the middle of October, the land being irrigated every two to seven days 
in dry weather. 

The value of the yield per acre is $450. On an average, irrigation 
increases the value of the crops $70 an acre. Although 1905 was a 
wet year, no other property in the vicinity gave as good crops of beets, 
lettuce, and celery. The value of unirrigated land is $50 per acre. 
The owner estimates the value of irrigated land at considerably over 
$100 per acre. The total cost of reservoir and plant was $200. 

NEW JERSEY. 

The New Jersey Experiment Station at New Brunswick has made 
many interesting irrigation experiments, the results of which are pub- 
lished in bulletins of this office. " Water for irrigation is obtained from 
the city mains and applied by the furrow system, the ground during 
dry weather being watered every seven days. The usual depth of irri- 
gation is 2 inches. The experience here shows that in humid climates 
light irrigations are preferable, since a heavy rain following an irriga- 
tion is liable to swamp the land. 

No. 18. F. W. Kilbourne, of Middlesex County, irrigates 2 acres 
of truck from the ■ New Brunswick city waterworks at the rate of 
$1 per thousand cubic feet. From two to three crops are grown 
on the same ground, each crop usually receiving one irrigation and 

aU. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Buls. 36 and 87. 



23 

occasionally two. The furrow methotl of irrigation, with a hose, is 
emploj^ed, the rate of flow from the hose being about lOj gallons 
per minute. The furrows are 240 feet long and 3 feet apart, and it 
requires thirty minutes for the water to run through them, on the aver- 
age. It requires forty hours to irrigate 1 acre of ground, the cost for 
water being $3.30. The soil is a heavy loam 12 inches thick with a red 
shale gravel subsoil. In 1905 water did not cost over $25, and the 
total cost of pipe and hose was only $25. 

Prizetaker onions yielded 900 bushels per acre. Three crops of 
lettuce of 50,000 plants per acre for each crop are usually grown on 
the same land, selling wholesale at from 2 to 6 cents a piece. Early 
cabbage is planted 15 inches apart in rows 2 J feet apart, giving 14,000 
heads per acre. One acre of beets yielded 7,000 bunches, bringing 5 
cents per bunch. Thirty thousand stalks of celery were planted per 
acre, yielding 8,000 bunches, 3 to 4 stalks per bunch, selling at 12 cents 
per bunch. Spinach is seldom watered. Irrigation fully doubles the 
crop on an average and in 1905 saved the crops from failure. 

No. 19. W. P. Stokes, of Burlington County, a florist, formerly 
irrigated his gardens with a pump driven by a 2i-horsepower gaso- 
line engine. The water was distributed by pipes and the furrow 
system of irrigation used. The pump was set in a pit 28 feet deep 
and obtained its supply from three 2-inch driven wells 53 feet deep. 
The last few years the rainfall has been ample and the plant has not 
been used for irrigation. A system of sub irrigation has been tried, 
a line of inverted U-shaped tile being placed on boards about 15 
inches below the ground. The soil is so sandy that this was unsuc- 
cessful, as the water all sank out of sight before reaching the end of 
the tiling. 

, No. 20. Henr}^ A. Dreer, of Burlington County, irrigates 5 acres 
of land by water pumped from a dug well 8 feet in diameter and 15 
feet deep. The well is lined with brick and cost, complete, $200. 
The water normally stands 5 feet below the ground level, and it is 
not lowered more than 1 foot at the highest rate of pumping. A 
duplex steam pump raises the water from the well into a system 
of distributing pipes. The pump is provided with an automatic regu- 
lator, which, b}^ throttling the steam supply, holds the pressure in 
the mains constant at 50 pounds, forcing the water into a 3-inch 
main 700 feet long, from which it is distributed through the field. 
Horizontal pipes are run parallel to the rows every 50 feet, the length 
of the pipes being from 250 to 750 feet. These pipes are run about 
3 feet above ground and are set on 2 by 4 inch wooden supports 20 
feet apart. They are tapped for small brass plugs every 4 feet, the 
holes for the plugs being all in line. Each of these plugs has a pin 
hole in the center, which serves as an outlet for the water. The 
overhead pipe line is connected by a union to the supply pipe in such 
29606— No. 167—06 4 



24 

a manner that it can be easily turned at any angle. A valve admits 
water to each pipe. Each line is supposed to water 25 feet on either 
side, and after one side is watered the pipe is revolved until the 
streams of water are at the proper angle for watering the other side. 
The water by the time it reaches the ground is in the form of a fine 
spray. 

The 250-foot lengths of pipe are composed of 100 feet of H-inch 
pipe, 75 feet of 1-inch, and 75 feet of three-fourths-inch pipe. The 750- 
foot lengths are composed of 320 feet of li^-inch pipe, 240 feet of 1-inch 
pipe, and 190 feet of three-fourths-inch pipe. The small brass plugs, as 
well as the special drill provided with spirit level for boring holes in the 
same so as to have them in line, are both patented. The drill with 
spirit, level sells for $10 and the brass plugs for 3 cents each. The 
measured discharge from one brass plug was 0.3 gallon per minute. 
In normal operation, one line of pipe will irrigate a space 50 feet in 
width in nine hours' run. This would correspond to a depth of 
irrigation of 1.3 inches. At its normal rate of operation, the pump 
is used to supph^ 9 lines 250 feet in length, or 2,250 feet of pipe, or 
2§ acres. This would correspond to a rate of flow from the pump 
of 169 gallons per minute. If desired, the pump could be run at double 
this capacity. All pipe in use throughout the plant is galvanized. 
The well water being clear, no trouble has yet been experienced with 
the small outlets in the brass plugs stopping up. 

The irrigation season lasts from the middle of April to the middle 
of October. The crops irrigated are flowers and strawberries. In 
dry weather they receive an irrigation every ten days, but they usually 
require not more than three irrigations per season. Irrigation is cer- 
ried on, as a rule, between 7 p. m. and 4 a. m., in order to avoid scalding 
the crops and baking the ground. From 1.1 acres of irrigated land, 
where 91,000 plants were set out, 89,600 good potted plants were 
obtained, and from unirrigated land in former seasons not over 60,000 
plants. As the value is $25 per thousand, this represents a gain of 
about $750 from irrigation. 

No. 21. T. E. Hunt, of Hunterdon County, irrigates 6 acres planted 
in celery, strawberries, cabbage, and potatoes. The land was not 
irrigated in 1905, the pump cylinder having been cracked by freezing. 
A 3-horsepower gasoline engine drives a double-acting pump, deliver- 
ing 30 gallons per minute. Water is taken from a pond and elevated 
20 feet, the discharge pipe being 2 inches in diameter and 400 feet 
long. The cost of the engine was $225 and the cost of the entire 
plant $600. One and one-half gallons of gasoline are sufficient to 
operate the plant for ten hours. 

The soil is a clay gravel loam 12 inches in depth, with a clay subsoil. 
The furrow system of irrigation is used, the furrows being 350 feet 
long and 3i feet apart. The furrows are nm on a steep grade and 



25 




the flow ti'om the pump divided between five furrows, requiring three 
and one-half hours to run through them. The pump will irrigate 
one acre in ten hours. Handmade canvas hose is employed for 
carrying the water down hill, under very light pressure. Muslin 1 
5^ard in width is cut up into three strips, each of which is made into 
a hose, which is then dipped in a mixture of coal tar and oil. The 
water is admitted by short hose to the ends of V-shaped wooden 
troughs, from which it is admitted to the furrows by means of adjust- 
able sliding gates. (See fig. 1.) The troughs are built of 1 by 5 and 
1 by 6 inch boards nailed together and provided with H-inch holes. 
There are three holes in these troughs for every two furrows, the inter- 
mediate one being used to supph' additional water to either furrow 
should it be necessary. 

Onions are seldom irrigated. In dry weather celery is irrigated 
every two weeks, receiving, at most, three irrigations per season. 
Strawberries usually receive one irrigation per season. In 1902 irri- 
gation saved the entire straw- 



berry crop from destruction. 
In 1905 without irrigation 3 
acres of strawberries yielded 
22,000 quarts, which sold for 
-G2,200. In 1903 irrigated 
strawberries produced a fine 
crop, while unirrigated berries 
were a failure. In dry sea- 
sons the same thing is true of 
celery. 

Xo. 22. David Astle, of 
Cumberland County, irrigates 1.6 acres of land from two wells 6 
inches and 3 inches in diameter and 47 feet deep, which were bored 
by a liydraulic process. The 6-inch well cost $168 and the 3-inch 
well $1.35 per foot, or $62. Surrounding the wells is a ])rick pit 8 
feet in diameter and 16 feet deep, dug at a cost of $25. The brick 
walls are laid 4 inches thick, the brick costing $30. The total cost of 
the plant was $1,200. The water stands 23 feet below the ground 
level, and is hardly lowered by pumping. The water-bearing stratum 
consists of coarse sand and gravel. 

The 6-inch well has a strainer 16 feet long and the 4-inch well a 
strainer 3 feet long. A 5-horsepower gasoline engine drives, through 
a countershaft, two double-acting power pumps at 35 revolutions 
per minute. One of these pumps has the suction side directly con- 
nected to the casing of the 3-inch well and the other pump has 
its suction pipe inside the 6-inch casing. The pumps deliver water 
into the same discharge pipe, which is 3 inches in diameter and 300 
feet in length. The water is raised 44 feet above the ground level 



*TD" 




Fig. 1. "Sliding gate in flume 



26 



at the pump house into a wooden tank with a capacity of 2,000 
gallons. The tank can be filled in thirty minutes. The cost of the 
tank was $40 and of the supporting frame S25. The plant consumes 
82 gallons of gasoline, at l.S^ cents per gallon, in a ten hours' run. 
The water flows back through 300 feet of the supph^ pipe and then 
through 800 feet of 2-inch pipe to the land. This 2-inch pipe has 
an outlet every 22 feet, to which a hose can l)e connected for sup- 
plying a movable pipe with water. 

The soil is a light sandy loam 8 inches deep, with a clay and gravel 
subsoil. The plant will usually irrigate 1 acre in two days' run, or 
twenty hours. The ground is irrigated by sprinkling from several water 




Fig. 2.— Carrier for pipe and sprinlclers. 

witches set 10 feet apart on a movable length of 2-inch pipe, which is 
mounted every 20 feet on 2-wheeled carriages. Eleven water witches 
are mounted on 100 feet of pipe supported by four carriages, as shown 
in figure 2, and will irrigate, without moving_, a space 110 feet by 10 
feet. Normally the water witches are run twenty minutes in the same 
place, but when necessary they are run for as long as an hour. Being 
mounted on wheels, the apparatus may be easily moved. In the 
driest seasons it has never been necessary to give the ground more 
than three thorough irrigations. 

The value of the yield from an acre of celery is $1,200; unirrigated 
celery in 1903 was a total failure. In 1904 the crop from If acres of 



27 

potatoes, irrigated once, brought $275, and was two weeks ahead of 
unirrigated potatoes, and, although it was a good year, yielded twice 
the crop. For one irrigation of potatoes 15 gallons of gasoline, at IS^ 
cents, were used, and six days' labor, at $1.50, or a total cost of $11. 
In some years irrigation will increase the potato crop fourfold. 

No. 23. Cuno Becker, of Cumberland County, formerly irrigated a 
small tract of land by water pumped from a 2-inch driven well 45 feet 
deep, the water standing 24 feet below the ground level. A power 
pump driven by gasoline engine was used to force the water into an 
elevated wooden tank, which supplied water under 15 pounds pressure 
to parallel rows of 2-inch pipe running over the land. These rows 
were 10 feet apart, and on each was mounted a series of thirteen water 
witches 10 feet apart. Fifteen minutes is sufficient to wet the ground 
reached at one setting to a depth of 1.6 inches of water. Lawn sprink- 
lers were tried, but required too much labor to move them and too 
much walking over wet ground. On irrigated land every strawberry 
ripened, and the berries brought 4 cents per quart more than unirri- 
gated berries, not over half of which matured. Irrigated beets, 
lettuce, and cabbage were of much finer quality than unirrigated. 

No. 24. The State Asylum for Feeble-minded Children, at Vineland, 
irrigates 10 acres by pumping from wells and 6 acres with sewage. 
Three 4-inch bored wells 122 to 157 feet deep supply all the water for 
irrigation and other uses. The wells are provided with 3-inch strain- 
ers 10 feet long, and the water stands 20 feet below the ground. A 
pump raises the water into a 50,000-gallon steel tank set 120 feet above 
the ground. The normal capacity of the pump is 150 gallons per 
minute. The boiler plant used for driving the pump is employed 
for heating in the winter time. 

The land is irrigated by the furrow system, the furrows being 400 feet 
long and 3 J feet apart. The water supply from the tank is led through 
a pipe to a ditch at the head of the furrows. The plant will irrigate 3^ 
acres in a half day. The irrigated land will grow two or three crops of 
truck a year. Fifty thousand gallons of water are used to irrigate 3 
acres of land, giving a depth of 0.6 inch. In 1905 irrigated potatoes 
yielded 271 bushels per acre, receiving but two irrigations, the season 
being wet. In dry weather the land is irrigated every week. Irriga- 
tion will, on the average, add one-third to the potato crop. A man 
and horse can prepare 6 acres a day for irrigation. 

The sewage output of the farm is about 50,000 gallons per day, and 
is pumped through 250 feet of 4-inch pipe and elevated 6 feet by a 
3-inch centrifugal pump driven by a steam engine. It discharges into 
a cistern holding 20,000 gallons, whence it runs through 500 feet of 
terra-cotta pipe and is distributed over the land by wild flooding. 
Only a part of the sewage is at present employed for the irrigation of 
3 acres of fruit and 3 acres of beans. 



28 



No. 25. William Ash, of Cumberland County, irrigates 3^ acres, one 
half acre of which is under glass. The water is pumped from a dug 
well 3i feet square and 15 feet deep, curbed with wood and brick. 
The well was sunk at a cost of $16. Water stands 5 to 13 feet below 
the surface. A 25-horsepower gasoline engine drives two double- 
acting pumps, which deliver 60 gallons per minute to a line of 2-inch 
pipe 900 feet long. Three gallons of gasoline, costing 16 cents per 
gallon, are consumed in a ten hours' run. 

The soil is a light sandy loam 10 inches deep, with a sandy clay sub- 
soil. The sprinkling system is used, with four lines of f-inch pipe, 
each of which has three water witches 17 feet apart. The f-inch pipes 
are set in the field from 14 to 18 feet apart and are connected to a 
2-inch main by not to exceed 60 feet of ^-inch hose. Normally the 
sprinklers run for one-half hour in a place, though sometimes an hour. 
The plant will irrigate 1\ acres in a twelve hours' run, during which it 
will take about one-fourth of a man's time to attend to the irrigation 
and move the pipes. The cost of labor is $1.50 per day. The maxi- 
mum lift against which the pump operates is 18 feet. The total cost 
of the plant was $700, the engine costing $150. 

From two to three crops are grown on the same land, the spring 
crops consisting mainly of cauliflower, radishes, beets, and cabbage, 
and the fall crop of lettuce. Irrigation will fully double the crop in 
average seasons. The following table shows the yield of the various 
crops and the frequency of irrigation : 

Irrigated crops near Vineland., N. J. 



Crop. 



Yield 
per acre. 



Beets bunches . . I 20, 000 

Cabbage heads. .1 12,000 

Cauliflower do j 12,000 

Radishes bunches. J 20,000 

Lettuce heads. . I 51,000 



Rate. 



Value. 



3J cents per 
bunch. 

$1 per barrel. 

$1.50 per bar- 
rel. 

5 cents per 
liunch. 



$700 



350 
750 



1,000 
1,000 



Maximum 

irriga- 
tions per 
crop. 



Irrigation season. 



May 20 to June 20. 

Do. 

May 20 to July 1. 



Aug. 15 to Oct. 1. 



In the driest weather crops are irrigated not more than twice a week, 
sprinklers being allowed to run for one hour in the same place. Five 
hundred and fifty bushels of potatoes were raised on an acre of good 
rich irrigated truck land and 300 bushels on an acre of poorer soil. 
One acre of unirrigated land, the soil of which was better than the 
second plat of irrigated potatoes, yielded 90 bushels. 

No. 26. George Mitchell, of Cumberland County, has an irrigation 
plant of sufficient capacity to irrigate 10 acres of truck land. The 
water comes from a small creek near the farm, across which a small dam 
has been erected. In dry weather, when the supply from the creek is 
insuflScient, the storage afforded by the dam will supply the pump for 



29 

three hours. A 2 ^-horsepower gasoHne engine drives a No. 2 cen- 
trifugal pump dehvering 110 gallons per minute against a total lift of 
15 feet. The discharge pipe is 4 inches in diameter and 500 feet long. 
The engine consumes 3 gallons of gasoline in ten hours. 

The furrow system of irrigation is employed, the furrows being 4 
feet apart and 600 feet or less in length, set on a- grade of 1 foot per 100 
feet. The entire supply is usually turned into two furrows, requiring 
fifteen minutes to run through. One man can irrigate an acre in four 
hours. The cost of labor is $1.25 per day. The owner estimates that 
the cost per acre for fuel and labor is $1 for each irrigation, the depth 
applied being J to 14 inches. 

Sweet corn is irrigated if dry at the time the ears are setting, or if 
needed, while the ears are growing. In a good year unirrigated sweet 
potatoes will yield from 100 to 300 bushels per acre. They are com- 
monly planted May 20 and harvested in October. September is the 
most important season for the irrigation of sweet potatoes, a single 
irrigation in September having increased the value of the sweet potato 
crop $40 per acre. 

No. 27. J. H. Shute, of Gloucester County, irrigates 1 acre of land, 
planted in truck and strawberries, with water pumped from a IJ-inch 
driven well 25 feet deep, provided with a strainer 4 J feet long. The 
cost of the well was $14. The water stands 14 feet below the ground 
level. A hot-air engine drives a double-acting pump, which lifts the 
water into a wooden tank 31 feet above the ground. The tank holds 
2,000 gallons and the pump will fill it in seven hours. An 8-foot wind- 
mill is also used for pumping from the same well. The hot-air engine 
uses kerosene for fuel, at a cost of 7 cents per gallon. In a ten hours' 
run the engine consumes 2 gallons of kerosene. 

The soil is a dark waxy loam 12 inches deep, with a clayey gravel 
subsoil. The furrow system of irrigation is employed, water being 
supplied to the furrows through a hose. The furrows are 100 feet 
long and 3 feet apart. Water is furnished to the field through 
l^-inch and f-inch pipes. The irrigation of an acre of ground will usu- 
ally require 6 tanks of water, giving a depth of 0.35 inch. It requires 
two days to irrigate 1 acre. The cost of the plant was $455, of 
wliich the engine cost $130, the windmill and pump $125. the tank 
$150, and the pipe $50. 

Celery is irrigated twice a week in the driest weather, receiving at 
most 15 irrigations per year. Onions are irrigated every two to three 
days and yield 600 bushels per acre. In 1903 the crop from one-third 
of an acre brought $250 and would have failed without irrigation. On 
the same land during the same year 60 barrels of onions, at $2.40 per 
barrel, had previously been raised, making $394 from one-third of an 
acre of land. 



30 

No. 28. L. M. Parkhurst, of Atlantic County, irrigates 3 acres from 
a 3-inch bored well 50 feet deep. The well is provided with a 6-foot 
strainer, and the water stratum is gravel. The water stands 23 feet 
below the surface. The cost of the well was $50. A No. 8 hot-air 
engine drives a pump delivering 8.3 gallons per minute. The total 
lift of the water is approximately 26 feet. The fuel used by the 
engine is kerosene, purchased at 9| cents per gallon, and in twenty 
hours' run the fuel consumption is 7 gallons. The plant cost S350 and 
used 5 barrels of kerosene in 1905. Water is pumped into an earth 
reservoir 22 feet square on top and 4 feet deep, lined with 1-to-l. 
cement 1 inch thick. The construction of the reservoir required one 
foreman, two field hands, and one team for four days, making a labor 
cost of about $25. It is fairly tight, though the Hning is cracked in a 
few places. 

The furrow system of irrigation is commonly used, though occa- 
sionally land is watered by hose. The furrows are 400 feet long and 
4 feet apart. The discharge from the reservoir is turned down one 
furrow, through which it flows in about thirty minutes. It requires 
five hours to irrigate one-half an acre, using one reservoir full, or a 
depth of about 0.9 inch. 

The ground is a black waxy loam 7 inches deep, with a gravel sub- 
soil. The ground is irrigated in dry weather once or twice a week. 
Strawberries receive at most three irrigations. Two acres in straw- 
berries yielded in 1905 4,000 quarts per acre, while unirrigated land 
yielded but 2,800 quarts per acre. Potatoes, which received one irri- 
gation in 1905 rather late in the season, yielded one-fourth larger 
crop than unirrigated potatoes. Irrigation will in general increase 
the }aeld from one-tliird to one-half. 

No. 29. Herman Graumann, of Atlantic County, irrigates 10 acres 
planted to strawberries and truck, from three 2i-inch driven wells 22 
feet deep, the water level in wliich is 16 feet below the ground. The 
wells, wliich are located far apart, cost $15 each to drive and are 
pumped by means of a portable 2i-horsepower gasohne engine, which 
drives a double-acting power pump, delivering 33 gallons per minute. 
The pump and engine, wliich are mounted on the same truck, are 
hauled from well to well, as required, and the water discharges through 
a 3i-inch canvas hose from 50 to 1,000 feet in length, whence it is dis- 
tributed over the land by spraying. The pump will irrigate one acre 
in four hours. 

The soil is a sandy and waxy loam 12 inches deep with a gravelly 
clay subsoil. Truck is irrigated every seven days; strawberries every 
one or two days in the driest weather. Strawberries are watered by 
furrows 80 feet long and 4 feet apart, and it takes the water twelve 
minutes to flow through. Two men are required to operate the pump 
and distribute the water. Irrigation in dry years increases the return 



31 

from strawberries at least $100 per acre. The plant cost $270, of which 
the engine cost $200, the pump $60, and the truck $10. The hose is a 
second-hand fire hose and cost the owner nothing. 
The cost of well boring in this vicinity is as follows : 

Per foot, 

l^-inch well $0. 50 

2-inch well 75 

3-inch well 1. 50-1. 75 

No. 30. John I. Sickles, of Monmouth County, irrigates 6 acres m 
truck and strawberries with water pumped from a brook by an 8-foot 
windmill mounted on a 50-foot tower. Water is pumped through 14 
feet of 1^-inch pipe and elevated 30 feet to a tank holding 6,000 gallons. 
A l^-inch main with branches of f-inch pipe 200 feet long and 75 feet 
apart, provided with taps for f-inch hose, distributes water over the 
land. The cost of the entire system was $1,600. 

The soil is a light sandy loam. The land is irrigated by sprinkling. 
The water watches used will cover a circle 20 feet in diameter and are 
allowed to run for twenty-five minutes in the same place. Straw- 
berries are irrigated at night by the furrow system and in dry weather 
are watered every night. Truck is irrigated in dry weather every one 
or two days, the irrigation season lasting from March to October. 

By the aid of irrigation three crops can be grown on the land. In 
1905 three crops were grown on unirrigated land, but average years 
yield about a crop and a half. Irrigation increases the yield of straw- 
berries and peas 50 per cent and matures radishes ten days earher. 
Beets were two weeks earlier when irrigated. The results with cab- 
bage Av^ere not good, probably owing to the ground being insufficiently 
tilled. In very dry weather radishes were raised by irrigation in 
twenty-one da^^s from the time of planting. 

No. 31. Julius Roehrs, of Bergen County, has an extensive system 
of hothouses irrigated %vith water from the city mains at a cost of $1.40 
per thousand cubic feet. 

No. 32. William Young, of Essex County, irrigates 12 acres of truck 
with water pumped from an 8-inch well 406 feet deep, which cost $2.50 
a foot. The water stands 24 feet below the ground and is lowered 2 
feet when the pump is in use. A vertical 15-horsepower boiler sup- 
phes steam under 65 pounds pressure to a direct-acting steam pump, 
with 2^-inch suction and 2-inch discharge, deUvering 65 gallons per 
minute. The vertical lift is 30 feet. The fuel is soft coal, costing $4 .25 
per ton, about 30 tons being used in one year. The plant is usually 
operated for twelve to fifteen hours a day. Five thousand feet of 
2-inch pipe are used in distributing the water over the farm. Several 
lengths are coupled together with unions 40 feet apart. Every 20 
feet is a T, from which a half-inch pipe 6 feet long rises vertically, on 
top of which is a water witch. The line of sprinklers is connected by 



32 

a hose to 2-inch mains running through the farm. These mains are 
taken up in winter. The pump will operate twenty-one water witches, 
which are run for an hour and a half in one place for a thorough irri- 
gation, after which the pipe is moved in sections a distance of 25 feet. 
It takes three men fifteen minutes to move and set up a line of twenty- 
one sprinklers. 

The soil is of a black waxy consistency 1 foot deep, with a clay sub- 
soil. It requires one hundred hours to irrigate 12 acres. In dry 
weather truck is irrigated every week. The crops grown consist of 
celery, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, and radishes. Two crops a year 
are usually grown. 

No. 33. F. J. Forthuber, of Essex County, irrigates 15 acres by 
pumping from a creek. A 20-horsepower vertical boiler supplies 
steam under 79 pounds pressure to a duplex steam pump with a 4-inch 
suction pipe 50 feet long and a 3-inch discharge pipe 1,200 feet long, 
with outlets 50 to 100 feet apart. The vertical lift is 70 feet, but the 
water pressure usually carried at the pump station is 70 to 100 pounds. 
Hard nut coal, at a cost of $4.25 per ton, is used for fuel, the consump- 
tion being 500 pounds in ten hours. The annual consumption is 6 to 
12 tons. Water witches are mounted on f-inch pipe rising vertically 
from a li-inch pipe line. The water-witch line is connected with 
unions every three lengths (60 feet). The pump supplies twenty 
water witches, which are spaced 20 feet apart, and it takes three men 
fifteen minutes to move a line of twenty. If the land is very dry 
they are run in the same place for an hour. This irrigation is repeated 
the next day, and after that once or twice a week. The pump deliv- 
ers 150 gallons per minute and will irrigate 1 acre in ten hours, giv- 
ing a depth of about 3.5 inches. 

Lettuce, celery, and other kinds of truck are irrigated not over 
six times per crop, starting in May. Celery and lettuce are the crops 
most improved by irrigation. 

The total cost of the plant was $2,000, and the owner estimates 
that in 1902 irrigation increased the value of the crops $1,000. For 
the last two years it has been of no material benefit and is said to 
do considerable harm when followed by heavy rains. 

No. 34. Henry Schumacher, of Morris County, irrigates 10 acres 
of truck from the city waterworks, paying $1.50 per thousand cubic 
feet. A H-inch main is run through the farm for a distance of 
600 feet, with taps 100 feet apart. Six water witches on half-inch 
pipe are mounted 15 feet apart on a section of 1^-inch pipe. With 
the usual pressure they will irrigate a space 15 feet wide. Three men 
are required to move the liae of witches, which are run one-half hour 
to an hour in the same place. Eight hundred feet of f-inch hose, 
costing 8 cents a foot, is used, in lengths of 200 feet or less. The 



33 

pipe laid in the ground cost $100, the water witches, etc., $25, and 
the hose $64, making the total cost $189. 

The soil is a dark loam 12 inches deep, with clay subsoil. One 
acre can be irrigated in twenty hours with six sprinklers, one set of 
sprinklers being run at a time. It takes one day's labor at $1.25 
to irrigate an acre of land. Crops are irrigated in dry weather every 
two weeks, receiving at most three irrigations in a season. Water 
is not applied in the heat of the day, but usually at night. 

The average cost of water is $100 per year. The price of land in 
this vicinity is high, due largely to its speculative value. Two crops 
are grown in a season. Irrigation sometimes saves the entire crop 
from failure, and the owner estimates that the value of the crops, 
which averages $1,000 per acre, is increased 40 per cent by irrigation, 
which insures better quality and earlier crops. 

No. 36. Arthur Robinson, of Hudson County, irrigates 2 acres 
from the city waterworks, paying $1.50 per thousand cubic feet. 
Three water witches 9 feet apart, connected together by a hose, are 
mounted on a wooden frame 18 feet long provided wdth two runners, 
so that it can be easily dragged about. This is fed by a f-inch hose 
connected to a 1-inch main running through the farm. The water 
witches irrigate a space 10 feet wide and run twenty or thirty minutes 
in the same place. One man can easily move them. They use 1,000 
cubic feet in a twelve-hour run. The owner estimates that irrigation 
doubles the yield in average seasons. Celery and cauliflower are 
watered once a week in very dry weather. 

No. 37. W. Gurnheit, of Hudson County, irrigates 15 acres in 
truck with water from the Hackenside Water Company, at a cost of 
$1.40 per thousand cubic feet. A 2-iRch main runs through the farm^ 
provided with 1-inch branches every 100 feet. These branches are 
provided with f-inch valves every 20 feet. Four sprinklers, mounted 
on vertical pipes 10 feet apart, extending upward from the f-inch pipe, 
are operated at the same time. These will irrigate a space 10 feet 
wide. They are usually run for an hour in the same place. Three- 
quarter-inch hose, in lengths up to 150 feet, is used to connect the pipe 
line with the water-witch line. In dry weather the crops are watered 
once a week. The annual cost of water is about $150. Radishes 
are not so sensitive to overirrigation as spinach, lettuce, and beets. 

There are about 50 irrigated farms in the vicinity of Seacaucus 
using similar methods of irrigation. Nearly all obtain water from 
the same company. 

NEW YORK. 

No. 38. F. Schumacher, of Queens County, irrigates 15 acres of 
truck from a spring. The supply is reinforced by three 2-inch driven 
wells 40 feet deep, in which the water rises and flows into the spring. 



34 

The pipe for the wells cost 15 cents a foot, and the cost of driving 
the three wells was $5. A 4-horsepower vertical boiler supplies steam 
at 40 pounds to a duplex pump, which delivers 75 gallons per minute 
through 1,200 feet of 2-inch pipe, against a 60-foot vertical lift into 
a wooden tank holding 12,000 gallons. The fuel used is hard coal, 
costing S6 per ton, 5 to 8 tons being used in a season. In a twelve- 
hour run 250 pounds of coal is burned. One man is required for the 
operation of the steam plant. A 10-fo6t windmill, supplied from a 
2-inch well, is also used to pump water into the tank. It pumps 
against a total lift of 75 feet. 

The soil is a light sandy loam, 12 inches deep, with a clay subsoil. 
Sprinkling from water witches is usually employed, although occa- 
sionally furrow irrigation is used. The water supply will irrigate 1 
acre in eighteen hours. The water witches are mounted on f -inch pipe 
3 feet high, which rise verticall}^ every 10 feet from T's on a 1-inch 
pipe, which is 190 feet long, making twent}^ water witches on the 
line of 1-inch pipe. The sprinklers are run for half an hour or more 
in one place and will irrigate a strip 10 to 14 feet wide. The entire 
sprinkler pipe line is moved by six men in one minute. Thirty-five 
hundred feet of 2-inch pipe and 500 feet of inch hose are used in 
distributing water over the farm. The cost of the entire plant was 
$1,500. The 2-inch hose cost 11 cents per foot and the tank $95. 

In dry weather most truck is irrigated every week. Lettuce is 
irrigated every two to three weeks. The owner believes that irrigation 
is worth $1,000 in average years. In one year the crop from a single 
acre of irrigated lettuce sold for $1,000, while unirrigated lettuce 
failed entirely. Potatoes and onions are seldom irrigated. 

No. 39. Phillip Bach, of Queens County, irrigates 7 acres in truck 
from five 2-inch driven wells, 20 feet deep, costing $28 apiece. The 
water stands 10 feet below the surface. A vertical boiler supplies 
steam to a duplex pump, delivering 80 gallons per minute, against a 
vertical lift of 67 feet, through 1,200 feet of 2-inch pipe into a wooden 
reservoir holding 10,000 gallons. A 12-foot windmill furnishes an 
additional supply. The pump will fdl the tank in two hours. Four 
hundred pounds of hard coal, costing $5 a ton, is used in a ten-hour 
run. 

The soil is a sandy loam, 3 feet deep, with a clay subsoil. The pump 
will irrigate 1 acre in ten hours. The water is distributed over the 
farm through a 2-inch main with 1^-inch branches 150 feet apart. 
These branches are provided with 1-inch outlets 75 feet apart, to 
which a series of water witches is connected by hose. The water- 
witch lines, three of which are used at a time, consist of 6 sprinklers, 
each mounted on |-inch pipe, which rise vertically every 12 feet from 
a 1-inch pipe. The water witches will irrigate an area 14 feet wide. 
Three men can move the water-witch line in two minutes. Not over 



35 

50 feet of hose is employed in making the connection from the pipe 
Hne. In ordinary irrigation the water witches will run in the same 
place for one-half to three-(inarters of an hour. In dry weather crops 
are irrigated every week, receiving not over twelve irrigations in a 
season. Three thousand feet of 2-inch pipe is used. Two to four 
crops are commonly grown on the same land. The total cost of the 
plant was $1/200. 

No. 40. Witte Brothers, of Queens County, irrigate 18 acres from a 
6-inch well, SS feet deep, provided with .a 3-foot strainer. The water- 
bearing: stratum is sand. The water stands IS feet below the surface 
and is lowered to 36 feet by pumping. The cost of the well was $380. 
A 4-horsepower vertical boiler supplies steam at 20 pounds to a 
deep-well pump set vertically over the well. The total lift of the 
water is 61 feet. Hard coal, costing $6 a ton, is used for fuel, the 
annual consumption being 10 tons. In fifteen hours the plant Inirns 
4 bushels, or 325 pounds of coal. 

The soil is a sandy and waxy loam 12 inches deep, with a clay sub- 
soil. The main for distributing the water is a 2-inch pipe with 1-inch 
outlets. Both hose and water witches are used. Four water witches 
mounted on ^-inch vertical pipes are supplied by a 1-inch ])ipe line. 
It requires two men to move the sprinkler pipe line. The water witches 
are 14 feet apart and water a tract 14 feet wide. They are run in the 
same place Ih hours. The pump will operate eight sprinklers and one 
1-inch hose, and will in addition fill the tank in fifteen hours. 

Cauliflower and cabbage are usually watered with the hose every 
three days in dry weather. Lettuce and celery are sprinkled once a 
week. The hose will water one acre in five hours, using about as 
much water as five sprinklers. The distance from the tank to the 
power house is 1 ,000 feet. The plant contains 2,800 feet of 2-inch pipe 
and cost $2,500. 

No. 41. B. II. Mohlenhofl", of Queens County, irrigates 3 acres with 
city water. The price charged for water for this and adjacent ])lants 
is $3 for the first thousand cubic feet, $2 for the second, and $1 per 
thousand for all additional water used within six months. A r^-inch 
main provided with f-inch valves is run through the farm. Three or 
four water witches 18 feet a]^art are attached to one section of 1-inch 
pipe by f-inch vertical pipes and will irrigate a space 18 feet wide. 
They are usually run in one place for three-quarters of an hour. Not 
over 200 feet of hose is employed. Three men are required to handle 
the water-witch line. In dry weather the land is irrigated every 
week. The water is considered rather cold for irrigation, and the 
pressure is considered too low for the sprinklers. 

No. 42. August Plenge, of Queens County, irrigates 4 acres with city 
water. Five water sprinklers are operated from a 1-inch water-witch 
line. The water witches are mounted on f-inch vertical pipes 8 feet 



36 

apart and will irrigate a space 9 feet wide. They run one-half hour to 
an hour in the same place, and it recjuires three men to move the line. 
Three-quarter inch hose in lengths up to 300 feet is employed to feed 
the water-witch line. Two-inch and 1 ^-inch pipe, provided with 1-inch 
valves 30 feet apart, supply the farm. 

The soil is a light sandy and waxy loam 7 inches deep and is inclined 
to bake after irrigation. Truck is irrigated every week in dry weather. 
The total cost of the plant was $400. The annual cost of water is $100 
Irrigation has paid well, and in 1905 was particularly useful in starting 
crops. 

No. 43. John Schumacher, of Queens County, irrigates 4 acres of 
truck from the city waterworks. Five water witches are mounted on 
7^-inch vertical pipes connected to a Ij-inch water-witch line, which it 
requires four men to handle. The water witches are 16 feet apart 
and water a tract 16 feet wide. They run from thirty minutes to an 
hour in the same place. The main is 2-inch pipe with 1 J -inch branches. 
The total cost of the plant was $750, and the annual cost of water is 
$100. The value of the land in this vicinity is $1,000 per acre. 

Truck is irrigated not more than twice a week in the driest weather. 
Irrigation doubles the value of the crops in average seasons. Two to 
three crops per year are commonly raised on the same land, and in 
dry seasons irrigated land can grow one crop more than the land not 
irrigated. 

No. 44. Bender Brothers, of Queens County, irrigate 17 acres of 
truck with water from the pipe line of the Bowery Bay Improvement 
Company, at a cost of $1 per 1,000 cubic feet. Five sprinklers 
mounted 16 feet apart on |-inch vertical pipes are usually operated 
from the same line. Three to four lines are operated on the farm; 
requiring four men to move them. The water witches irrigate a space 
16 feet wide and run on the same piece of land from one-half hour to 
an hour. They are supplied through a 1-inch connection and a f-inch 
valve, the water supply being under SO pounds pressure. Twenty- 
five hundred feet of 2-inch main is employed in distributing the water 
over the farm, and f-inch hose is employed in lengths up to 600 feet. 
The land is irrigated every week or two in dry weather. 

The total cost of the plant including the meter was $830, of which 
$150 is for hose. The annual cost of water on the farm is $125. As 
a rule water is applied from the latter part of the afternoon until mid- 
night. The owner says that irrigation doubles the value of hotbed 
crops — lettuce and soup greens. The plant will irrigate 12 acres of 
land in six days. Labor costs $1 to $1.25 per day, and $18 to $20 per 
month, with board. 



37 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

No. 45. The largest irrigated farms investigated were in the vicinity 
of Boston. Frank Coohdge, of Middlesex County, irrigates 100 acres 
of truck land with water pumped from several open bottom wells 2^ 
to 4 inches in diameter and 20 to 30 feet deep. The water in the wells 
stands 9 feet below the surface and is lowered 2 feet when pumping at 
full capacity. The boiler plant, which is used for heating in the win- 
ter, consists of three 14-foot horizontal boilers, supplying steam at 90 
pounds to two direct-acting steam pumps. Water is delivered at a 
pressure of 85 to 100 pounds. The plant uses 2h tons of soft coal in 
ten hours, one man attending to the plant. The plant is usually oper- 
ated from 7 a. m. to 6 p. m., although occasionally when the weather 
is very dry it is run twenty-four hours. 

One and one-fourth inch rubber hose is used in lengths of 100 feet, 
with fan-shaped nozzles. The combined capacity of the pumps is suf- 
ficient for 8 nozzles. The hose is fed tlirough l|-inch valves placed 
every 60 feet in the distributing pipe. The piping is all laid on top 
of the ground and is taken up in the winter. The distributing pipe 
where it leaves the pumping station is 4 inches in diameter, and it 
reduces in size at various parts of the farm down to 1^ inches. The 
large pump is sufficient to supply five hose streams and the smaller 
pump three. 

The soil consists of a light sandy loam 10 inches deep, with a sandy 
subsoil. One man with a hose can irrigate 0.9 acre in a day. Occa- 
sionally water is distributed in furrows, the quantity of water used 
being twice as great as when the hose is used. The furrows are 50 to 
150 feet long, averaging 6 feet apart. Two to four crops are usually 
grown on the same land in a year, and sometimes five. Irrigation 
sometimes saves the loss of an entire crop. The cost of the plant was 
about S7,000. 

No. 46. W. W. liawson, of Middlesex County, irrigates 40 acres by 
pumping from 4-inch open bottom wells 85 feet deep. Three pump- 
ing stations have been installed for supplying water, in each of which 
is a 4-inch well and a 48-incli by 13-foot horizontal boiler, which sup- 
plies steam under 60 pounds pressure to a steam pump. The well 
water stands 10 feet below the ground and is lowered 6 feet when the 
pumps are operated at 50 strokes per minute, delivering 55 gallons per 
minute each. The maximum total lift is 40 feet. The water flows 
through 1,000 feet of 4-inch and 1,000 feet of 3-inch main pipe. The 
laterals used are 2^ inch and 1^-inch pipe. Each plant consumes 1 
ton of soft coal at S4, in a twelve-hour run. Forty to 50 tons are 
burned in the three plants in a season. The cost of labor is $1.75 per 
day. The total cost of the plant was .153,000. The hose sprinkling sa^s- 
tem is usually employed. Sometimes the furrow system is used, each 
pump supplying two 2=\-inch hose streams. Two hundred gallons per 



38 

minute will furnish four hose streams, each of which will irrigate an 
acre in a day. 

The soil is a sandy loam 2 feet deep, with a sandy subsoil. The 
ground is irrigated in dry weather every week to a depth of 1 inch. 
City water, costing $1.10 per 1,000 cubic feet, was used to the extent 
of SI, 000 in 1905 instead of pumped water. It is often impossitjle 
to raise crops without water. On the average irrigation will increase 
the yield one-third. 

No. 47. Weyman Brothers, of Middlesex County, irrigate 40 acres of 
Imd with water pumped from a dug well 10 feet deep, iji which the 
water stands 5 feet below the level of the ground. The land is located 
near a lake, and the water level in the well is not lowered appreciably 
by pumping. A 25-horsepower horizontal boiler furnishes steam to a 
duplex pump, which is run at 75 strokes per minute. Soft coal, 
costing $4.50 per ton, is used. The plant consumes one-half ton in 
ten hours. 

The pump delivers water either into a reservoir or direct into the 
mains. The reservoir is 40 feet hi diameter and 11 feet deep, built of 
stone with cement-lined walls, and fills in seven hours. The reservoir 
gives a pressure at the farm of 15 pounds per square inch. When 
pumping dir(^ct into the mains tlie pump will supply twelve 1-inch 
hose streams through a 4-inch main 450 feet long. Movable branches 
of 2J-inch pipe, provided with outlets 56 feet apart, may be attached 
every hundred feet. One-inch hose distributes water from these 
outlets, the greatest length of hose employed being 150 feet. 

The present plant is suitable for about 20 acres and is being enlarged. 
The plant is operated about thirteen hours a day and supplies the 
reservoir twice a week. The land is watered every three days in the 
driest weather. Furrow irrigation is used to a limited extent. The 
owner values irrigation as an insurance and says it doubles the crop 
at times and sometimes increases it only a third. 

No. 48. James Purcell, of Middlesex County, irrigates 10 acres from 
the city waterworks. The main consists of 2-inch and 1 1-incli pipe, 
from which branches of 1-inch and 1^-inch pipe run out 100 feet apart, 
provided with outlets every 100 feet for 1-inch hose used in lengths 
of 50 feet. 

The soil and su]:)soil are sandy, and one stream of water will irrigate 
one-half acre in a day. Truck is watered every week in dry weather. 
The annual cost of water for irrigation is $100. 

No. 49. W. H. Allen, of Middlesex County, has several farms near 
Arlington irrigated by pumping and from the city mains. One farm 
of 15 acres is irrigated by city water at $1.10 per thousand cubic feet, 
or about $400 annually. The method of irrigation was mainly sprin- 
kling by hose. Wliere the furrow system is used the furrows are 300 
feet long;. The soil is all sandy. One stream of water will irrigate 



39 



one-half acre in a day. Tlu-ee to four streams at a time an* used on 
tliis farm. 

For another farm of 35 acres water is obtained l)y pumping from a 
well. A steam pump delivers water against a 15-foot lift, through 
2^-incli pipes. This i)lant burns SOU pounds of coal in twelve hours. 
Seven men are employed on this farm, one man for running the ])unip- 
ing station and six for watering the land. Irrigation doul^les the yield 
of eggplant and almost doubles the yield of other crops. Without 
irrigation it would be impossible to raise celery. 

On a third farm 45 acres of land are irrigated b}" pumping and from 
the city mains. A 15-horsepower vertical boiler supplies steam to a 
duplex pump, wliich delivers water uito the mam under 70 pounds 
pressure. The plant uses 700 pounds of soft coal in twelve hours. 
This plant supplies four hose streams and the city waterworks three, 
the cost of city water being 75 cents per thousand cubic feet. At 
times fifteen men are employed in the irrigation 
of this farm, the work being carried on day and 
night. 

Wlien the land is irrigated by sprinkling, which 
is the usual method, one man will irrigate one- 
half acre in a da}'. The water issues from the 
sprinkler in the form of a cone, the sprinkler be- 
ing provided with an adjustable cone plug in the 
center for varying the size of the opening, as 
shown in figure 3. Part of the land is irrigated 
by the furrow system, using 2 to 2 J inch streams 
of water. One man operates each stream, irri- 
gating an acre in a day. 

No. 50. The Hittinger Fruit Company, of Suf- 
folk County, formerly irrigated several acres from a hillside spring. 
A ] 50,000-gallon brick and cement-lined reservoir was supplied from 
an S-inch bored well 254 feet deep, cased 45 feet. The water stands 
6 feet below the ground, but when pumping 40 gallons per minute it 
is lowered 150 feet. Overhead revolving sprinklers were formerly 
used for distributing the water; but as there was considerable trouble 
from the holes stopping up from rust, the system was given up. A 
ground line of 1^-inch pipe was connected every 30 feet with 1^-inch 
vertical pipes, each having a 1-mch horizontal pipe attached. 

A more satisfactory arrangement, made of 2-inch pipe, is shown in 
figure 4. It is provided at the end with connection for a 2-inch hose, 
to which is attached a one-half to five-eighths inch nozzle. The 
horizontal pipe was 20 feet long and was provided with a counter- 
balance and a swivel to turn about the vertical pipe. The pipes were 
spaced 150 feet apart, and this arrangement was found quite satis- 
factory. One day's labor was required to irrigate 1 acre. The 




Fig. 3.— Adjustable nozzle. 



40 

furrow system was used for strawberries, the furrows being 150 feet 
long and 3 feet apart. One hundred feet of 2-inch hose was employed 
for this purpose. In a dry year the strawberry crop was doubled. 
The greater part of the farm is now devoted to fruit trees, and irriga- 
tion has been practically abandoned. 

No. 51. C.H.Slade, of Suffolk County, irrigates 10 acres by pump- 
ing from a dug well 15 feet deep, the water standing 6 feet below the 
ground. A boiler, which in cold weather heats a greenhouse, fur- 
nishes steam to a direct-acting pump which delivers water against a 
75-foot lift into a 10,000-gallon wooden tank, which it fills in eight 
hours. The water for the tank is pumped through 500 feet of 2-inch 
pipe. The hose system of irrigation is used. A f-inch hose will 
empty the tank in ten hours, and in this time will irrigate 1 acre of 
land to a depth of 0.4 inch. The water is used largely in greenhouse 




Fig. 4. — Adjustable hydrant with hose and nozzle. 

irrigation, a hose and sprinkler being employed, (\icumbers are 
irrigated every day in dry weather. This plant cost $1,000, including 
tower and tank. 

The same owner irrigates 12 acres by pumping directly into a 3-inch 
pipe line, provided with T's for hose connection every 300 feet. The 
pump will supply a 2-inch hose stream. Hose is used in lengths up 
to 300 feet and the water is distributed by sprinkling. This plant 
cost $600, and uses ^ ton of coal, at $4.50, in a day. In 1905, 5 acres 
were irrigated. The pump will irrigate 1 acre in two days to a depth 
of 4.5 inches. The great difference in the depth required inside a 
greenhouse and in the field shows very clearly the effect of the glass 
cover in preventing evaporation. 

No. 52. A. H. Long, of Sufi'olk County, irrigates 1 acre with city 
water, costing $1 .20 per thousand cubic feet. The water is distributed 
by sprinkling from a single water witch, the annual cost of water 



41 

being $100. The sprinkler wall cover a 20-foot circle, and is run for 
half an hour in the same place. The owner estimates that in 1905 
irrigation was worth at least $200 an acre to him, increasing the 3^ield 
about one-third. 

On a farm near hx 5 acres were formerly irrigated by pumping from 
four driven wells 2 inches in diameter and 20 feet deep. The cost of 
the plant, which consisted of a 25-horsepowcr boiler and a No. 6 
pump, delivering 28 gallons per minute, was $500. Five hundred 
pounds of soft coal, at $4.50, were used in twelve hours. The water 
was supplied to the farm through 500 feet of 3-inch pipe and 100 feet 
of 2|-inch fire hose, the full flow requiring twelve hours to water an 
acre to a depth of 0.7 inch. The annual cost of fuel and labor for 
operating the plant was $250. The cost of labor is $1 .50 per day. 

No. 53. H. W. Locke, of Middlesex County, irrigates 10 acres of 
celery and cabbage from the city waterworks. A 1^-inch main pipe 
distributes the water under 25 pounds pressure to |-inch hose. The 
pipe is run on top of the ground and moved as desired. One man can 
water an acre in a day. As a rule irrigation is used only for planting 
and shortly afterwards, although occasionalh^ four or five irrigations 
are applied. The cost of water averages $75 a year. Irrigation 
frequently saves the crop. 

No. 54. Lovell Brothers, of Middlesex County, irrigated 2 acres of 
celery for the first time in 1905, using water from the Metropolitan 
Water Company, at the factory rate of 20 cents per thousand cubic 
feet. The water is distributed by means of f-inch hose. The soil 
is cla}' and does not require so much moisture as the sandy soil of 
surrounding farms. The land was irrigated for planting only. One 
man irrigated half an acre a day. 

No. 55. Pierce Brothers, of Middlesex County, irrigate 6 acres from 
the city waterworks, using a 1^-inch main, provided with outlets 
every 75 feet for f-incli hose. The furrow system is also used occa- 
sionally, the furrows being 300 feet long and 6 feet apart. The flow 
from the hose will irrigate one furrow in an hour. 

The soil and subsoil are a gravelly loam. Crops are irrigated ever}'' 
three or four days in dry weather, each crop receiving from five to, ten 
irrigations. From one to three crops are grown on the same ground. 
In a dry season it would be impossible to grow crops without irriga- 
tion, and in average seasons irrigation increases the yield of the land 
fully 25 per cent. The 'cost of water is $100 per year. 

No. 56. James W. Russell, of Middlesex County, irrigates one farm 
at Winchester and another near Medf ord. On the first farm 5 acres are 
irrigated with city water, costing $1.50 per thousand cubic feet, with 
a discount of 50 per cent for every 1,000,000 gallons (134,000 cubic 
feet) used in a year. In 1904 and 1905, 5 acres were irrigated. The 
cost of water in 1904 was $60 and in 1905 $30. 



42 

Spinach, lettuce, corn, celery, and cauliflower are the crops irrigated. 
The town pressure is insufficient for the use of sprinklers, so the furrow 
system is used. The cost of irrigation equipment on the farm was $300. 
In dry seasons irrigation increases the yield from 20 to 50 per cent. 

On the second farm 21 acres are irrigated from a pond, partly fed by 
two 2^-inch wells 50 feet deep, which flow when the pond is lowered by 
pumping. A portable 10-horsepower boiler and a direct acting steam 
pump are mounted on a wagon. At 90 strokes per minute the pump 
delivers 180 gallons per minute through 400 feet of 3-inch pipe, and 
through 2i-inch fire hose in lengths up to 1,200 feet. Rubber-lined 
canvas hose costs $1 per foot and lasts 10 years. The plant cost $1 ,700. 

The furrow system of irrigation is commonly used, the furrows being 
210 to 400 feet long and 4 to 5 feet apart. The stream from a_ 2^-inch 
hose is divided between 5 to 20 furrows, according to the grade of the 
land, the usual number being 7, in which event it requires twenty 
minutes to irrigate them. Four acres can be irrigated in an eleven- 
hour run. One man distributes the water, but it requires three men 
once a day to move the pipe. Bare land is irrigated for planting by 
attaching a 1-inch nozzle to the hose. Tender plants are watered with 
a ^-inch nozzle under high pressure, which makes a fine spray. 

The soil is a sandy loam 7 to 12 inches deep, with a gravel and sand 
subsoil. The average lift does not exceed 10 feet, the pressure being 
mainly due to friction in the pipe. In a day's run of eleven hours, 500 
pounds of hard coal, at $6.75 per ton, is used, the average annual con- 
sumption being 6 to 12 tons. The crops irrigated are dandelion, kale, 
spinach, corn, and celery. Celery is irrigated every two weeks in dry 
weather, receiving about four irrigations per crop. Sweet corn pro- 
duces 300 bushels per acre, with about 60 ears per bushel. The corn 
is first harvested July 17. Irrigation increases the value of the cixips 
20 to 50 per cent, according to the rainfall. An increase of 50 per 
cent is obtained only when the rainfall is very light. 

EHODE ISLAND, 

No. 57. D. N. Potter, of Providence County, irrigates 22 acres in 
beets, lettuce, celery, and cucumbers from a pond. A duplex steam 
pump forces the water through 400 feet of 3-inch pipe and 1,000 feet 
of 2-inch pipe provided with 2-inch branches. The water is distrib- 
uted by a 1-inch hose provided with ^-inch nozzles, the maximum 
length of hose employed being 200 feet. The supply is sufficient for 
two nozzles. In addition the greenhouse consumes 5,000 gallons of 
water in three hours. Part of the piping is buried, and the other 
part, which is laid on the surface of the ground, is taken up every 
winter. The ground is usually irrigated from 3.30 p. m. to 7 p. m. 
Four hundred pounds of soft coal, costing $4.10 per ton, is used in a 
ten-hour rim, about 50 tons being: used in a season. 



43 

The soil is a sand}" loam 15 inches deep, with r. light loam subsoil. 
One man will irrigate one acre in nine hours. In dry weather the 
land is irrigated not more than twice a week nor more than six times 
in a season. The total cost of the plant was $1,700. 

Carrots, parsnips, rhubarb, corn, and beans are very seldom irri- 
gated. Cucumbers in the hotbeds are irrigated every two days. Two 
to three crops are grown on the same soil. Irrigation will generally 
produce one extra crop, will make the crops much earlier, and increase 
the yield fully 25 per cent. Irrigation increases the value of the cel- 
ery crop fully one-third. 

No. 58. C. W. Patt & Son, of Providence County, irrigate 10 acres 
in celery from a creek. A vertical boiler supplies steam at 40 pounds 
to a direct-acting steam pump run at 40 strokes per minute. The 
water is forced under a pressure of 80 to 100 pounds into a 3-inch dis- 
tributing pipe 800 feet in length which runs through the farm and is 
provided with outlets for 2^-inch hose. The land is irrigated entirely 
b}^ one 2i-inch fire hose with a 1-inch nozzle. The hose is m 50-foot 
lengths. In irrigatmg one length is uncoupled and the nozzle is 
screwed onto the next every fifteen minutes without shutting off the 
water. Every forty-five minutes the hose is changed to another out- 
let on the main pipe line, the plant bemg shut down for fifteen min- 
utes. The hose will irrigate one acre in an hour. Water is applied 
in dry weather every two to three days from Jiuie through September. 

The soil is a sandy and heavy loam 18 inches deep, with an open 
subsoil. The fuel is hard coal, costing $6.75 per ton. In a ten-hour 
run 200 pounds are burned, and about 8 tons in a season. One man is 
required to operate the pumping plant. The owner estimates that the 
gain in the yield of celery is at least 25 per cent. 

The same owners irrigate 22 acres planted in radishes, celery, let- 
tuce, spinach, beets, and parsley. These crops are irrigated every 
week in dry weather, except celer}^, which is irrigated twice a week. 

A 50-horsepower horizontal boiler supplies steam to a duplex pump, 
which draws its supply from a creek nearby and delivers water to a 
3-inch main at 140 pounds pressure, the vertical lift being 32 feet. It 
is run at 60 strokes per mmute and supplies five 1-inch hose streams. 
The suction-pipe is 5 inches in diameter and 550 feet long. The 3-inch 
main is 1,500 feet long and is provided with 2-inch, IJ-inch, and IJ- 
inch branch pipes fitted with 1-inch hose connections with ^-inch noz- 
zles. The greatest length of 1-inch hose used is 100 feet. One stream 
will irrigate one acre in three hours. One ton of soft coal at $3.40 
will run the plant fourteen hours. 



44 

METHODS 01' IBRIGATION. 

Of something <vver 60 plants described in the preceding pages 25 
use the furrow system, usually supplying water through pipes and 
hose, 17 use hose sprinkling, 8 use single water witches, and 18 use 
nudtiple water-witch systems. Twelve of these plants use more 
than one system, and about 10 are not reported. While the data 
are too variable to form a basis for reliable statements as to relative 
advantages, it is interesting to notice what averages the data show. 

The size of a single stream of water averages 24 gallons per minute 
for each furrow, 44 for each hose nozzle, and about 4 gallons per min- 
ute for each sprinkler used. The time during which water is run in 
one place averages half an hour for the furrow system and nearly an 
hour with sprinklers. None of the plants using furrows or single 
sprinklers requires more than one man to look after the water, usually 
using not more than half of his time during an irrigation. Where 
hose sprinkling is used the entire time of one man is required for each 
nozzle during an irrigation, the average number of men being three. 
With multiple sprinklers, owing to the necessity of moving long lines 
of pipe, a number of men are required for a short time when the water 
is changed, only a small fraction of their time being taken for this pur- 
pose. The number of men required averages three, the work of irri- 
gation taking about one-fourth of their time. Where a complete sys- 
tem of piping is installed, one man can look after an entire plant. 

In estimating the labor cost of one irrigation, the actual time put in 
by each man must be considered. In the following averages labor is 
taken at SI .50 per day, and it is assumed that five minutes are required 
to change the water in a furrow or to move a sprinkler. Where mul- 
tiple witches are used, five minutes are allowed for moving the first of 
a system of bars, and three minutes for each additional })ar, except on 
the larger places where a number of men must be called from greater 
distances, in which cases ten minutes are allowed for the first bar. On 
this basis the labor cost of one irrigation by furrows runs from $0.30 to 
$1.20, averaging $0.75 per acre. With hose s})rinkling the average is 
$1.80 per acre; with single witches, $1.12, and with multiple sprinklers 
$2.40, ranging in the latter case from $0.45 to $8.70 per acre. The 
depth applied, however, is 1.3 inches by furrows, 0.6 inch by hose 
sprinkling, 0.3 inch by single sprinklers, and 1.8 by nudtiple witches; 
making the average labor cost of applying 1 acre-foot of water, $7.10 
by furrows, $34.80 by hose, $34.40 by single sprinklers, and $16.10 by 
multiple sprinklers, but where a complete system of pipes is installed 
the cost runs as low as $3.50 per acre-foot. It should also be noticed 
that the labor of applying water with sprinklers is not increased by 
lengthening the time and the amount of water used since only a defi- 
nite number of changes are required to irrigate a given piece of 
land once. With hose or furrow irrigation the labor is proportional to 



45 

the amount of water applied, and can only be decreased by increasing 
the flow of water handled by one man. 

Owing to the interruption of other work, when a number of men 
must be assembled every hour or so to change the water, it is usually 
much better to arrange the distribution so that one man can use his 
entire time to good advantage. For instance, one farmer uses several 
bars of f-inch pipe 34 feet long, pro\aded with three sprinklers each 
which one man can handle easily. Better work is likely to be done 
where one man devotes his whole time to irrigation. Wliere the water 
supply is not sufficient to require the entire time of one man, it would 
be well to arrange the system so that one man can do all the work 
when irrigation is required. 

The reason for the prevalence in the East of the sprinkling method 
of irrigation, which is practically unknown in arid sections, lies in two 
important differences in the conditions of irrigation practice. First, 
the quantity of water applied in one irrigation in the East nuist be 
small, owing to the risk of sudden and heavy rains which would swamp 
a crop if falling soon after a heavy irrigation; and, second, the soils 
used for truck farming in the East are not, as a rule, so capable of stor- 
ing and retaining water as the arid soils, so that a heavy irrigation once 
a month will not answer the needs of garden crops in the East. With 
the sprinkling system it is possible to apply uniformly as small a quan- 
tity of water as desired, while with furrows enough must be applied to 
run through the furrows and soak laterally to the roots of the plants. 

In brief, the advantages of tlie sprinkling system are that there is no 
loss of space if the main pipes are laid underground, and no loss 
from leakage; it is applicable to uneven ground and hillsides, since 
water is delivered under pressure; no special preparation of the sur- 
face is required, and plants may be set as close as desired; a very 
small flow of water may be utilized, and a light irrigation may be 
very quickly applied in emergency. Its disadvantages are the great 
fu-st cost for pipe and connections; the high pressure head which 
must be overcome when water is pumped ; the excessive cost of city 
water where used; and the great expense of applying water and 
maintaining an elaborate system. 

The advantages of the furrow system are its cheapness and simplic- 
ity, requiring onl;^" ordinary farm tools to la}' out: the ease with which 
one man can handle a large stream of water; the fact that water is 
applied b}- gravity and need not be pumped higher than the land to be 
watered, dispensing with high storage tanks. Water may be applied at 
any time of day without danger of scalding the plants, since the foliage 
is not wet and evaporation from the ground surface is reduced to a 
minimum. The disadvantages are: The loss of space where head 
laterals are used, and the expense of piping, where pipes are used 
instead of open-head ditches; the cost of leveling and smoothing land 



46 

so that the furrows may carry the water without flooding; the expense 
of furrowing out before each irrigation and of cultivating afterwards, 
and the necessity of phinting far enough apart for horse cultivation; 
the difficulty of applpng water evenly in very sandy soil, and the loss 
of water by seepage in head ditches, especially where the flow used is 
small. 

In irrigating with a hose by hand many use no nozzle at all, simply 
putting the thumb over the end of the hose to make a fine spray. A 
cheap nozzle is often made by flattening the end of a piece of ordinary 
pipe. Others use a fuie-hole sprinkler or some form of patent adjust- 
able nozzle. 

Where sprinklers are used, the simple forms shown in figures 5 and 6 
are much in favor. One widely used type of water witch (fig. 6) con- 
sists of a small revolving device with two concave 
horns which revolve, owing to the reaction of the 
water flowing l)etween them. These sprinklers 
operate with a pressure of 15 to 30 pounds, and 
will cover a circle 15 to 30 feet in diameter. 
Their simplicity and cheapness have led to their 
wide adoption. The water passages through the 
sprinkler are fairly large and not easily clogged. 
Many irrigators use small brass plugs with one 
small hole drilled in the center. Revolving-arm 
sprinklers are very little used, being expensive 
and too easily clogged. 

The various arrangements of multiple sprinklers 
are described above in connection with the de- 
tailed data regarding truck-irrigation plants, and 
a few details are shown in figure 7. 
Where pipe is laid on the surface, it is frequently taken up and 
stored away during the winter, making a great deal of labor. It is 
usually better to bury the pipes below the depth of cultivation, pro- 
vision being made to drain the water out, so as to prevent freezing. In 
many cases there is a tendency to buy too small pipe for mains, which 
needlessly increases the pumping head, and thus the fuel cost. 

THE COST OF IRRIGATION. 




Fig. 5. — Simple nozzle. 



The cost of irrigation includes, besides the cost of applying water 
already discussed, both interest and repairs on the plant and fuel and 
attendance for pumping. Where city water is used the fuel and 
attendance are included in the rate paid for water. Interest and 
taxes may be taken at 7 per cent of the cost of the plant, and deprecia- 
tion, repairs, and renewals at 13 per cent, or 20 per cent annually as 
the total fixed charges on small pumping plants. This expense is 
constant whether the plant is used or not. 



47 



Seven plants using city water irrigate 61 acres, the average cost of 
plant per acre being $44, while the cost per acre on individual plants 
varies from $12 on farm No. 18 to $188 on No. 44. The average fixed 
charges on the basis assumed are thus nearly $9 per acre annually. 

Six gravity systems irrigate 15 acres, the first cost varying from 
practically nothing in Nos. 11 and 12 to $100 per acre in No. 6, where 
a supply had to be developed. 

Seventeen pumping plants, irrigating 388 acres, cost an average of 
$74 per acre, the least cost being $27 for No. 29 and the greatest bemg 
$455 for No. 27. The average fixed charges may be put at about $15 
per acre. 

The cost of city water is quite uniform, averaging in fifteen cases 
$1.11 per 1,000 cubic feet, or about $48 per acre-foot. As the depth 




Fig. G.— Nozzle. 



applied averages about 4 inches, the cost of city water per acre is $1-6. 
The reasonable cost of pumpi^ig can hardly bo determined from the 
small amount of data available, but comparison with skillful western 
practice shows that the expense is unnecessarily high, due to several 
causes. In most pumping plants in the West the amount of piping 
used is small, and the pressure against which the pump operates is 
practically the lift alone. In the East, with the pipe distributing 
systems, the friction head and discharge head are often far in excess of 
the actual lift, necessitating much larger power plants and fuel con- 
sumption. Any system of sprinkling requires at least 20 feet dis- 
charge head for hand sprinkling and twice as much for water witches, 
and larger heads are decidedly preferable. In any extended distribut- 
ing pipe system there will necessarily be large friction losses in the 



48 

pipe, since pipes lar2:e enough to cut down this loss would be too 
expensive. 

The actual lifts of pumping plants in the East vary from 13 to 80 
feet, while total pressure heads of 150 to 200 feet are not uncommon, and 
in one plant the pressure head was 340 feet, of which only 32 feet was 
actual lift. In other words, the power was eleven times that required 
to lift the water. On an average, the total head is probably three 
times the lift. Where elevated tanks are used, the work of pumping is 
often increased two or three times. In many places the power plant 
installed is fully six times as large as would be necessary were the 
water to be elevated only to the highest point of the ground to be 
irrigated. 

Of twelve cases, the average of the cost per acre-foot for fuel and 
labor is S13.15 where steam power is used. Adding to this the fixed 




Fig. 7.— Multiple sprinkler. 

charges given above, the total cost of providing and distributing 
water, but not apphdng it, is $28 per acre-foot. A cost of $28 per 
acre-foot for water delivered at the point where it is ready to be 
applied to the fields is very high in comparison with western costs. 
In six plants using gasoline engines the average cost for gasoline 
per acre-foot pumped is $2.91, as against $6.18 for fuel alone for coal 
plants. This difference is due to the greater heads under which the 
coal plants operate — perhaps four times the average head for the 
gasoline plants — ^and to the use of direct-acting steam pumps, which 
are very wasteful of steam. Gasoline plants shoidd be more widely 
adopted in the East, except where steam plants obtain their steam 
from boilers used for other purposes, such as heating in the winter 



49 

time, and thus effect a saving in first cost over the gasohne phint. 
The average steam plant under the conditions observed costs over i'(jur 
times as much for fuel and attendance as the average gasoline plant. 

In many cases the use of a reservoir holding from one to three days' 
supph' of the pump would greath' facilitate irrigation. These res- 
ervoirs may be constructed by throwing up earth embankments, the 
inside slope of the embankment being I vertical to 2 or 3 horizontal 
and the outside slope 1 vertical to H or 2 horizontal, the top of the 
bank being about 4 feet wide. The banks should be constructed 
as far as possible of water-tight material, such as clay or "puddle,"' 
and should be carried down to a water-tight stratum by means of a 
carefully fdled ditch, which will thoroughly l)ind the bank to the 
original surface. If the material at hand will not hold water the 
reservoir must be lined. Concrete, asphalt, and tar mixtures are used 
for this purpose. Reservoir embankments, when suital^le material 
for construction is near at hand, should be built for 1.5 to 25 cents 
per cubic yard in the East. To this must be added the cost of lining, 
if necessary. Cement will probabh' cost 10 to 15 cents per square 
foot laid 4 inches thick, antl tar mixtures will be much cheaper. 

RETURNS FROM IRRIGATION. 

In a humid country it is especially hard to get at the probable 
returns from irrigation, owing to great variations in the distribution 
of rainfall, the nature of the soil and the subsoil, and to the effects 
of severe rains. For example, in a dry year unirrigated crops may 
be a total faihu'e and irrigated crops be as large as ever, while in a 
wet year irrigation may prove a positive detriment. An estimate 
of the real value of irrigation should show the average results obtained 
during a period salRciently long to give a fair average of climatic 
conditions. Only the State experiment stations are in a position 
to obtain reliable figures for long periods and to compare directly 
the results of irrigated and unirrigated crops. There is at present 
little reliable information on this question. Still the estimates of 
various farmers as presented in this report may give a better luuler- 
standing of the problem and present a fair idea of the benefits to be 
obtained. 

The average yearly value of truck crops in nine cases was given as 
SI, 030 per acre, of which value the irrigators estimated that $330 
was due to irrigation, or an increase of 47 per cent. Other esti- 
mates run usually 30 to 50 per cent. As the cost of irrigation usually 
lies between $30 and $100 per acre, it is fair to assume an average 
profit of $200 or more per acre due to irrigation. 

In order to form some idea of the probable benefit of irrigating 
field crops, many farmers in Pennsylvania were asked the following 






50 



questions regarding the various crops: What is the yield per acre 
in an average year, and what is the corresponding yield in seasons 
when the rainfall is ample? The replies have been compiled, and 
the averages are presented below as giving merely a preliminary indi- 
cation of the possibilities of irrigation. Of course, damage by severe 
storms and frost would affect irrigated and unirrigated crops alike. 

Comparative yidds in wet and dry years. 



Crop. 


Average 

yield 
pe'r acre. 


Yield 
per acre 
in a wet 

year. 


Assumed 
price. 


Value av- 
erage crop. 


Increased 

value in 

good year. 


Corn 

Wheat 

Rye 

Oats 

Tobacco 

Timothy 

Clover 


bushels.. 

do... 

do... 

do... 

pounds.. 

tons.. 

do... 


48 
20 
20 
40 
1,330 
1.6 
1.6 


64 

28 

25 

52 

1,700 

2.1 

2.1 


$0.60 
.83 


$28.80 
16.60 


$14.40 
6.64 


.37 

.08 

13.00 

11.00 


14.80 
106.40 
20.80 
17.60 


4.44 

29. CO 

6.50 

5.50 



CONCLUSION. 

The data presented seem to warrant the following conclusions: 

The irrigation of meadows and truck farms is an established and 
profitable practice in the North Atlantic States, while the profitable 
irrigation of field crops has not been demonstrated as yet. 

The methods employed are very expensive compared with western 
practice, but are the outgrowth of peculiar conditions and meet the 
requirement of very small applications of water. 

The quantity of water required by truck crops either as rain or 
irrigation is about 1 inch in depth every week, and in the light sandy 
soils generally used it should be applied in quantities not exceeding 1 
inch at a time. 

o 



LB Mr '07 



